Spawn of the Vampire
by Demino
Summary: Things have gone so wrong for Tai, infected by darkness, he kidnapped Mimi and fell in love with her. Now he seeks to redeem himself and regain the humanity he thought he had lost with the help of the other DD's. Epilouge added 246 07.
1. Part I

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Summery: AU, very AU and dark, with mentioning of torture, violence and blood drinking.

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Spawn of the Vampire

Part I 

Art of Turning

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The fire roared lively in the fireplace before him, the bright flames casting shadows on all the walls and filling his body with the peace he had been wishing for all day long, ever since the last battle with those stupid Digi Destined he had met just a week ago. Still, if everything went the way he hoped it would. That would soon be a thing of the past.

The soft purring drew his eyes down to stare at his newly appointed right hand servant, her black fur glints in the light, and her mouth and nose moved every time she took a deep breath. Yes, she was the perfect digimon partner for a master of the night. Even her name told him that she knew about darkness, and how much she welcomed it in. "Blackgatomon." Yes, she was most helpful, and she was his partner, she had most helpful in the capture of his current dinner quest, even if all she did was whimper and cry.

But he didn't mind, the whimpering made him smiled even more when he heard it, and it looked like his unwilling houseguest was beginning to wake up again, it had been too good to find this rare beauty running lose in the digital world, and one who was so weak to boot as well. Turning to stare at the pain filled brown eyes, a grin split his face when he saw the whimpering motions of her mouth. "Ah, you're awake my dear." 

The face still bore traces of the week long stay in his dungeon, a week without sunlight, barely any food, and no baths would help a great deal to break the physical powers of anyone. And tonight fun had broken her mentally, nothing like that, he wanted her to give herself too him willingly, but it didn't stop him from having other types of fun with her. "Michael, where's he." The voice was a whisper.  

Pressing his fingers against the other, he leaned back in the chair and looked up at the dark ceiling, his thoughts drifting to fighting strength and willpower of the blond haired American boy. "He was, most tasteful, I should thank you for bringing me such a meal." A low chuckled escaped at the last words, and sent a shiver down the girl's spine.

The girl's eyes sunk down to stare at the floor, those lovely brown orbs close to losing the last scrap of fighting spirit. Yes, she would bend to my will as well, just as my first victim had, she had had a spirit as pure as hers, and it had taken a long time to break, but that was understandable, I was still just a fledgling at the time, now, months, if not years had passed, and everything had become so much more delightful. "The others are still fighting that child, he amuses me, thinking that he can win with such simple tricks." Lifting up my hand, I pull on the small chain attached to her collar and her body moves a bit closer to me. "Come, watch with me as he fails again." a screen flashing into view as I speak, showing me the other brats running around in this world.

Her eyes flashed with anger as I treat her as a pet, and why shouldn't I, she is a pet, a lesser being, she is weak and timid, doomed to one day fade away with the rest of trash littering the real world. But weakness can become strength, she is strong and healthy, her mind and spirit just needs to be broken, then I can rebuild it into something I can use. "Such eyes, don't forget who holds the chain, and your life around here or do you want to play pin the needles in the nerves again?"

Her eyes loses their spirit at the memory f the fun time I had just a few hours ago, it really was a shame she passed out before the show really started, but another show is starting on the screen, this child who dared to claim rule over this world, is busy trying to fight off a group of kids his own age. "For someone who claims to be so smart, he makes a lot of mistakes." My eyes moved away from the fight and settled on the young girl with the light brown hair, her spirit is so strong, and she represents everything my master hates about this world. Her name is know to me, just as I know her well, she is the one with the light, the shine that would never die, but it can be corrupted. "But I won't waste my time doing that, she is not useful to me, she will just have to die."

Her eyes stare from me to the screen, and her breath forms a gasping sound when she see who my eyes has settled on, the child she has known as well, shared a deep and strange secret with for all these years. "You can't be serious, she's..." My hand hitting her face with a hard and painful slap ends her words right there as her head snaps to the side and her body falls to the floor with a thud, sending a drop of spit flying out of her mouth with a few drops of blood. Must have hit her a bit harder then I thought.

My anger fades as I stare at her now sobbing form, all it takes is a reminded of who has the power in this room, and she breaks down and cries like that. My snort of dissaprovement must have shaken as her sobs increases in strength. While it is amusing to me when she hurts like that, it's not the right time for her to cry. Yanking on the chain, I force her to sit up or choke to death; her eyes stare into mine, red and puffy from her ordeal. "You will not speak her name around here, that girl means nothing to me anymore." 

Her head turns to view the screen, the image of the battle I was intending to watch, but now all there is an image of a group of cheering kids and the remains of a broken control spire. It's really is a shame that they broke it, perhaps I should send someone to help this Digimon Emperor, but I change my mind, he should be baptized in battle like I was, only through suffering and loss do we grow strong. The years before he showed up, I trained and hunted to become worthy of my masters gift, and what has he done so far, claiming that he is perfect, hah, he still hasn't killed anyone with his own hands, all he does is force them to do his dirty work. "The simple fool, he's still thinking that he is doing all this on his own, he has no idea how much my master controls him."

Her face shows confusion as she heard those words, clearly she hadn't expected someone to control the all powerful and arrogant Ichijori brat, after all, he is a genius, but then again, all geniuses become predictable and too disconnected to reality after a while. As he said, we must never forget where we came from, from the darkness of our past; we will grow strong for the future. "Yes, he is controlled my dear, just as all of them are, they think they do this willingly, hah, someone else is pulling their strings, they play the act, but someone sets the scene."

Standing up, I stare down at her, whatever amusement I might have gotten from her is gone now, my mind is fully set on the task at hand, I must prepare for the return of my master to this world, for when the balance is broken, and the dark spore is ready, he will unveil his true form, and everything will tremble before him. Still, it would be a waste to just snap her neck; I could use some help, and someone to spend these long nights with me. "Girl, I will give you an offer, the same offer I was given all those years ago."

Her eyes stare at me in fear, yes fear, fear for what I might say or do to her, this is such a fun game, I wish my master would been able to instruct in person instead of over the computer, I wish he was able to see how I break the weak things bodies and minds, the dry snap when a leg or arm is broken, the final painful whimper before they are killed. "You can die a slow and painful death like your friend Michael, and trust me, I know how to make it last days."

She begins to move away from me, her legs scrabbling over the floor, it must be painful for her, after all, my floor is made of nice cold rocks, and even something cold can burn something. Grabbing the chain, I pull her closer, never allowing her pleas, whimpers or sobs to stop me as I left her up by the front of her neck. "Don't go yet, you haven't heard my offer, join me, sir by me and help me prepare for his return, and you won't suffer like the rest of the worlds."

Her eyes flicker to the screen as I smile at her, I can see the urge and need to help her friends, the feeling of still belonging to a team that are falling apart day by day. Sure they work together now, but the brat Daisuke and that annoying TK will soon split the loser brigade up, their anger and desire for the bitch of light will see to that. And still, they remain this covering girls only hope. "You want them to help you, they don't even know you're gone, and even if they did, they wouldn't care."

Her defiance is back, as strong as ever, it blazes with all of her inner powers and strength. By the darkness and my masters name, I want her to be mine, much more then that stupid tomboy I met once, the one who drove my only guiding light away from me, and once my master has fulfilled his plan, I'm going to pay her a little visit, and leave her all alone, just before I kill her. "Face it, that Sora girl must have noticed something wrong, but do you see her looking for you?"  

Her eyes widen at those words, and I pull her little close, my mouth going down to hover next to her ear, the sound of her blood vain calling out clearly to me from where I stand, it's lifeblood calling out to me in a sweet music, the music of life and death. "Accept me, and you shall never know fear again." I watch her try to break free, but my grip tightens, and I hiss the next words into her ear. "Even if you don't accept, you'll still die, what I offer you in eternal youth and beauty."

Her defense slowly breaks down as the long week of captivity and fun with the needles and her fears break down whatever small amount of courage she had left, her strength is torn down, along with her hopes, but it is to expected, after all, her fall had been set in motion since the day I capture her and the annoying pretty boy in the forest. I knew letting him plant at least one control spire in this place would bring someone here sooner or later to try and destroy it. Don't get me wrong, the digimon's make good conversationalist, but they are so boring in the long run, they don't really understand us humans. Well, I'm not really human anymore, the master saw to that, I'm something more then a human; a cross between a virus digimon and a lowly human is how he described me.

I turned her ace to the side and stare into her eyes as I trace a finger along those pink lips of hers, well soon it won't be pink that colors it, but a pure crimson red, like the life giving fluid of us all. I stare into those orbs, willing her to give in to me, to surrender, but in the end she must give herself of her own free will. "Well, what is your answer?"

Her eyes flickers over to stare at the screen, the fear for her friends and a plead for help back in them, I growl at the thought of having to teach her again, but I hold myself back, if I hit her once more, I face the chance of shattering her mind completely. I that happens, she'll just become a submissive pet, and not the queen of the night I seek. I stare at the screen with her, an small and amusing thought forming in my mind. "Accept my offer, and I will leave them alone, I give you my word."

Her eyes blink and hides the wish inside of them, the wish that she didn't have to given this choice, but it has happened now, and so it must be, for her friendship and loyalty to them, will not allow her to do anything but accept my offer. I can already see the silent light of hopelessness in them, the knowledge that she will lose no matter what. "I swear i won't hurt them."

She looks at me again, her spirit ready to surrender, and with that, her life will become the master's and mine as we work to completely everything for him on this side. And with her on my side, I can live through the coming nights with her. "Do you accept?"

Her eyes doesn't look down as she answers, a plus in my book, she has the courage to face her dark fate, even after losing everything, her friends, her partner, and her life. "Yes, just don't hurt them." I smile, a warm smile, not the cold and indifferent ones I show to the rest of the world, but the one I have hidden for this moment, the moment when I make an eternal companion to me. 

Her head tilts to the side as I moved my hand up to her cheek and gently pushes it, the brown hair is carefully brushed back from her neck, and my eyes hones in what lies beneath the pale skin, my mouth watering with anticipation for what is too come, and nearly ruining this special moment, my eyes flicker around the room, and I find myself regretting that I haven't had it filled it with candles and a large goblet of blood for both of us to drink from afterwards, that way we could have celebrated her turning in a true feast. But that must wait for another time when we are alone.

Thoughts over with, my fangs sink into her flesh and into the vain below the soft skin, forcing a small gasp from her. As I pull out from her vain, her blood rushes out to fill my mouth, it is warm and full of the love, and high spirits she has always had, her dreams ruined and her spirit broken will soon be rebuilt into something just a glorious, if not bigger then that. I pull back and leave her with just enough blood to carry the next part of this old ritual. Biting into my, I feel my own dark blood flow out. "Drink Mimi Tachikawa, drink for your new future." I push the wound into her mouth, and watch as her light side fights to push the offending fluid away before it corrupts her completely. 

Then she began to suck the blood on her own, the drain clearly felt by my body as her need for the crimson stuff grows every second, after a few seconds, I gently pull my hand free from her mouth and grab a near handkerchief to bandage my wound. On the floor, I can see her gasp for breath as the foul liquid and, how was it he describe it, corrupting virus breaks down her body and rewrites it into something more then it used to be. "Welcome to the dark side, Mimi." My chuckles fill the room as the light dies in her eyes, in less then an hour, a new Mimi will be born, the Mimi that will stand by my side forever. "I Taichi Yagami, welcome you to the family."

TBC: remembrance in the night.

AN: I want to hear your opinions, tell what you think, was it bad - Good, rotten to the core or simple divine. Seriously, it is the first, well second time I try to write a vampire story, and I want to hear some feedback from you people, is this something I should continue.

Also, keep an eyes on my website for a pic of vampire Taichi soon.

Ahh, sorry, a minor screw up on my behalf resulted in this story getting deleted, as to those of you who reviewed while it was gone, you reviews have been saved to a txt file.

Sorry about the trouble I caused.

Dak.


	2. Part II

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Summery: AU, very AU and dark, with mentioning of torture, violence and blood drinking.

This and the next one will mostly deal with Taichi and Mimi's current situation, and then I will bring in the Kaiser and the Digi Destined for the rest of the story.

No more personal POV in this story, it a third person view point now. Enjoy.

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Spawn of the Vampire

Part II

Remembrance in the night

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A bright light filled the school computer lab as a small group of five people rushed out through the only lit computer screen in the entire room, each of them screaming out in pain and annoyance as the landed in a giant heap on the floor, several arms and legs sticking out in different directions.

"Get your arm out my eyes."

"Hey, get that off."

"Sorry."

"TK get of my legs."

One by one, the five kids pulled themselves out the heap and stood up, once again dressed in their normal everyday clothes instead of their digitally chosen outfits. Closing the gate and turning off the computer, the youngest girl in the groups, also known as Kari Yagami turned around and yawned loudly. "Is it me, or do we spend more time fighting digimons then we do other things."

Leaning against the wall, Daisuke Motomiya, or simply Davis to his close friends snorted at the words from the brown haired girl. "Well, it was worth it, if we can stop Ken from harming more digimons then I'm all for staying up all night." Pushing away, he reached down and picked up his worn school bag and slung it over his shoulder.

Staring at the reddish brown haired boy with narrowed eyes, TK among friends picked up his own school bag and reached out a hand to pat Kari on the shoulder in a comforting manner. "Don't listen to Davis, we all know how you feel, it would be nice to get some sleep every now and then. "

Freezing at the doorway, Davis turned back and glared at the blonde haired boy, his anger clearly showing on his face thought the narrowed eyes as he did it. "So, are we just going to relax and let that jerk run free with his towers and rings, is that it TM?" The words had about as much warm in them as an ice cube had and each word carried a very sharp edge to them. 

TK clenched his hands at the direct insult aimed at him from the other boy, and had to fight to keep himself from attacking the goggle wearing kid on the spot, behind them, the sound of the other three kids sighing and moaning at the prospect of another heated argument was clearly heard. "No Daisuke, I'm just saying that we need to relax every now and then, if we don't, we stand the chance of being too tired to fight an important battle."

Clutching his digimon closer to him as his own anger began to grow, Davis stared at the blond boy through narrowed eyes while trying to find a good comeback to the other boy, finding none, he settled for turned around and staring at the red haired boy stranding in the doorway, his eyes tired looking and nervous. "Izzy, what's up, did Ken take over another part of the digital World again?" 

Shaking his head as he stepped in, the child of knowledge sighed and dropped down in a chair, his hands clutched together as he stared at the closed digital gate. "It's Mimi, she's been missing for a week, and so has Michael, I think they went to the digital world, but I'm not sure." Looking at the shocked expression on each of the kid's faces, he sighed for a second time and ran a hand through his hair. "We might consider the fact that she has been captured by Ken, or someone else."  

-----------

She looked so beautiful at that moment, there could no doubt about it at all, the way her eyes were glowing with the knowledge that her sacrifice would somehow save her friends from their fate. But did it really matter, he had promised not to hurt them, that was the price for her turning, but he didn't have to, his master would dispose of them when he arrived back into the digital world.

Staring down at the delicate pink locks of hair and the pink mouth, he felt his heart beat a little faster, a show of emotions that he though he had buried so deep down inside of him so long ago. Still, this place wasn't right for her to wake up in, she deserved a more homely place, a less imposing room then his study. Kneeling down and pushing a lose strand of hair back, he eased his hands in under her body and slowly lifted her up into his arms. "Don't worry, I'll take care off you."

Leaving the room, he saw Blackgatomon staring at him with curious eyes, her tail twitching at the sight of the girl lying limply in his arms, her breathing still normal but her cheeks loosing a bit of it's color already from what she could see. "Taichi, did you turn her, does that mean you have chosen a queen to sit at your side?" Her voice full of pure happiness and her tail twitching from side to side to show it to him that she was glad for him.

Staring at his partner, the only who had truly understood him all those years ago, the one who had waited for him for so long, her life dedicated to helping no matter what, as long as he would stay her friend and partner. If anyone had ever been more deserving of his friendship then his old friend Sora, it was his digimon partner. "Yes, she's the one I've chosen."

Smiling and grooming herself at the same time, her blue eyes slid up to stare right into Tai's brown ones, her devotion and hopes for him showing clearly through the room. "Shall I have someone prepare a meal for you both tomorrow?" 

Taichi looked at her and then smiled as he thought of the prospect of having a simple welcome meal with the girl, taking the time to inform her of what she was going to be doing as his mate and the new queen of the night. And prepare her for her meeting with the master, which would have to be done sooner or later. "Yes, tell the chef and servants that we'll be having the meal here in the study."

Nodding, Blackgatomon jumped off the armrest and began to walk over to the door, her eyes taking a closer look at the girl as she passed her partner and his mate. She looked nice and friendly, so the virus drink shouldn't have changed that too much, all she really has too was lose the pink hair color. Grabbing the side of the door, she pulled back on it and felt it open as she did. "Later Taichi." Running out through the door, she cast a curious look back to see her partner and best friend walk out of the door and set a course straight for the sleeping quarters in the castle.

Pushing open the door into the room next to his, Tai stepped in carefully holding his burden in both hands as he fumbled to turn on the light. Finding it after several seconds, he cast a look around the spacious room and nodded to himself, it was nice and roomy and it would most likely fit her tastes on decorations when she woke up to see it.

On the soft fluffy king sized double bed sitting in the very center of his chosen mate's soon to be bedroom, he softly deposited his coming queen, to make her coming transformation and awaking as pleasant as he could for her. Arranging her to lie in the best position as possible, he gave a faint smile and sat down next to her, watching the slightly painful expression in her eyes as she stared up at him, fearing for what he might do to her in her weakened state. Smiling as he saw her eyes flicker from one side to the other, he reached out a hand and pattered her soft brown hair. "Calm down, I won't hurt you. For now, I'm content with you at my side, as my queen of the night, I'll stay with you until the sleep hits." 

For a long time, he sat there, soft holding hr hands and running a finger down her cheek, he sighed as he saw her eyes finally grew wary and close, showing that the true transformation was about to begin and at that moment he allowed a true and friendly smile to cross his face, it would be nice for once to have someone like himself by his side, someone who would return the feelings for her that he could feel grow with each passing second, feelings he would never admit to have if anyone ere to ask him. "Sleep well my dear, when you wake up, I shall return to see you again." Standing up from the bed, Tai took in her beauty, and felt something stir in the very depts. of his dark and cold heart, something other then the normal desire and wants he had lived with for the last year. Killing the emotion before it got out of hand, Tai continued towards the door mumbling out loud as he reached it. "Stupid, I have no emotions left."

Walking out the bedroom, he stared at the two Bakemons standing guard outside of it, his fangs glistered in the air as he faced them both, his eyes showing the promise of pain they would have to endure if they failed to obey him. "Guard her, do not let anyone into the room for the next day unless they have me permission, as soon as she wakes up you will tell me, I shall be in the study until then." Not waiting for them to respond, Tai spun around and walked down the dark corridor, then stopped and looked at the staircase leading down to the cells where he kept his digimon pets and food supplies.  

Slowly stepping down the winding stone staircase, he grinned as he began to wonder just which one of the prisoners he should drag out and drain for blood to celebrate his queen's birth, or if he should give her another few mouthfuls of his own again. "Maybe I should find another digibrat for her to feed on."

The dungeon below his castle was dark, damp and cold the only light coming from a few smoking torches spread out along the wall, the perfect place to hide someone you didn't want to worry about anymore, it was a place well suited to break down the spirits of someone before the final decision as to their fate was made, and it was also here that he had kept her for the last week, his queen, it wasn't a fitting place for her, no, he should have placed her in a room next to his own, that would have been the only place that was fit for her, his Queen.

Walking down the rows of cells, he nearly laughed as he felt and heard the digimons imprisoned inside the small stone cells far below the castle run for their lives, trying to find a place to hide in their small cells in the hope that he wouldn't choose them for his next meal. It was sweet music to him; and with the feeling of fear that hung in the air as well, it became a drug to him, urging him to make it thicker and better every time he went down here. "Maybe a little torture show before the cells would increase it."

Stopping as he reached the cell he had been looking for, Tai smiled as he reached out and unlocked the door, bathing the inside of it in a faint light that could barely show the digimon hudderling in the corner of the cell properly. Stepping into the small room, he kneeled down to stare into the green eyes which looked back at him with a dimming defiance. "Palmon, can you feel it, the process that is turning your partner into the same thing as me?" 

Glaring at him in anger, Palmon lashed out with her arms, only to feel the chains snap tight and pull them back, her vine tips trapped inside the heave metal gloves he had forced down over them when she had been placed here in the first place, ignoring the feeling of helplessness in her mind, she settled for staring at him in anger. "Why, what have we ever done to you?" 

Staring at the digimon in amusement over the sudden boldness she had to ask him a question before he had given her the permission to do so, it was bold, and so like her human partner, maybe she would make a good partner for his queen after all, all she would need was a few good reasons and lessons as they why she should obey him. And as for her question, maybe he should indulge her and answer it just this once. "Why, you haven't really done anything to me, nor have Mimi or the blond boy. My reasons for it was a small thing at first, I just wanted to punish you all for entering my domain, then I recognized you and the girl as the ones who had helped destroy my friendship with my sister and Sora four years ago, and ultimately helped end my life."

Palmon blinked in confusion over the information the boy before he had given her, it didn't make any sense, who was this master he kept mention to her, then her eyes took in the boy before her more clearly as a mental image of a happy carefree boy with a pair goggles around his head flashed before her eyes. "You, you're Kari's..."

"Brother?" Smiling in a sick way, Tai stood up and shot the plant type digimon a look of pure coldness, his fingers moving over the fabric of his cape in a lazy manner. "Yes, and now I have the means for my revenge at last, my master will be most pleased when I bring him the keys to his triumph." Turning around to leave, he shut a look back at her, the eyes now blazing with a hidden threat. "You have a choice Palmon, continue serving Mimi as her partner and I will allow you to return to her." Staring at the shocked expression she gave him, he slammed the door shut with a loud bang. "I shall give you until tomorrow to come up with an answer."

Pausing as he reached the servants area, he opened the door and stared in at the group of digimons working inside the room. The group consisted of a mix of Floramon's, from the last raid in the forest zones and a few Gabumons captured in an attack on one of the few remaining free Digimon villages lying further towards the eastern parts and the Digimon Kaisers domain. As he walked in, he enjoyed the silence that fell, before all of them seemed to work even faster when it clicked that their master had arrived, but he wasn't here for that, he had to find the Floramon in charge of making and mending the uniform and capes he wore. 

Finding her sitting at the back of the room working on the tears in his favorite cloak, he nodded an approval at how perfect she had gotten it to look, one couldn't see the places where the claws of a Gururumon had torn through it. Walking up to her table, he stopped and stared down at the freighted expression forming in her eyes when she notice he had stopped at her table. "Floramon, I want you to go up to the second master bedroom on my floor, there you will find a human girl, take her measurements and prepare a few dresses for her."

Bowing low as Tai stopped talking, she didn't dare look at his face, the last digimon to have refused to bow to down to the Dark Master in respect had become his meal, and just yesterday, the newly brought in Gabumon had dared to refuse a simple order to clean the study and had been flogged to Deletion in the courtyard as punishment and an example. And Floramon had learned to obey, for it meant surviving to live another day. "What color should the fabric be master?"

Looking around at the few scraps of cloth lying on the table and floor, he tried to see if he could remember what colors she had been wearing, all he could remember was how dirty the small shirt and skirt had become after a week in the darkest parts of his dungeon, but her hair, it had still been vibrant and clear pink, even if dirt and grime had been smeared into it when she had been dragged out to meet him, it would seem that color as her favorite, why else would she had colored her hair pink. "Make three pink ones, and two white ones for her." 

Nodding at the command, she bowed one more time. "It shall be as you wish Master." Standing up and grabbing the stuff she would need, she signal two other Floramon's who rushed over and helped her carry it, picking up the last thing she would need, she turned back around from the table and bowed one last time to her master as she began to leave the room. "The first three should be done by tomorrow morning master."

Tai looked at them and smiled as he began to turn around, his fingers moving over the cape he warning. "Good, I shall be in the study, if there's a problem, don't hesitate to contact me, the girl means a lot for us all." Walking towards the door, he flung it open and left towards the upper parts of the main building.

Inside the room, the Floramon's and Gabumon's had stopped working at the last words and were looking at one another, amazement clear on each of their faces, it was the Floramon who had to make the dress that finally broke the silence. "He's chosen a queen." Nearly dropping her scissors and measure tape, she closed her eyes, she had never thought she would be alive long to see or even hear him talk about getting a queen since the only human's in the digital world was the digi destined and he was known to hold a deep hatred for several off them.

***************

Lying on the bed, mimi was scared as she could herself drifting between life and death, her body was rejecting the dark blood she had bben forced to drink from the brown haired boy's wrist, to stop the transformation into a vampire, but the body was losing, as it also had to deal with the loss of blood that Taichi had drained from her.

Struggling to move her arm or even blink her eyes was become harder, the desire to just let go overwhelming her as her breath became more ragged and short as her mind faded back and gave into the dreams hiding on the edge of her awareness. Pictures and sounds from her younger days flashed past her eyes, the image of her mother giving her the pink cowboy hat she had worn all the time she had been in the digital world, her father trying to teach her how to defend herself, even if she never paid him any attention and kept complaining until he gave up.

Grief filled her at the image of her friend Michael's death at the hands of someone as in-human and cruel as Taichi, and the way the damn vampire had smirked when he told about the screams, and how he had died after a torture session, she thanked the gods that she hadn't been torture like he had, but she had seen when the Bakemon returned with him, how his hair was mattered with blood, the marks and cuts clear on his chest after the shirt had been too damage to hold on any longer.

The image of her cell in the castle's dungeon popped up as she remembered Michael, the simple wooded cot in the corner, the hole in the corner working as her bathroom, and the feeling of completely helplessness whenever the guards decided to have fun by blocking off the only light source into the cell, leaving her completely alone in the dark. 

And finally there was Palmon, her digimon, the closest and best friend she would ever have in her life, would she be killed if she gave up and became the monster that Taichi seemed to want her to become, or would she simply mean nothing to her. {Palmon, I'm sorry, I'm trying to fight for your sake, for mom's sake, and for Dad's sake, but it's so hard to keep it up, please Palmon give me your strength.}

Slipping further into the darkness, she tried to scream as several nightmares flashed past her eyes, the loud pounding of her heart beat dying out in the background, signaling that it was almost completely over, then she felt a warm and pure feeling surge through her body, erupting into a glowing picture of her crest giving her a headache as a sudden and overwhelming pain rushed through her body, then it was over and her mind slipped away into the darkness.

**************

Sitting in the study, Tai stared at the digivices lying on the table before him, the strange dark orange color of his own with the black stripes snaking around it to hit the side of the small screen. Next to it was a small first generation digivice, a simple white one with a black screen and a clip to attach it to a belt. The sight of it filled him with a sense of discomfort, it stood for everything he had once wished for, and now he hated the sight of it. 

It had happened so long ago, so very long ago before he had lost his family, his friends, and his life. He could still remember the day so clearly, Myotismon had tried to use him as bait to lure his sister and the other kids to the TV-station for a final battle with him, The sudden pain when the Vampire digimon had tossed him towards the edge of the roof as the finale minute the deadline had been passed. He could remember struggling to get up when the boot of the vampire digimon had knocked him over in time to be hit with the digimons attack across the upper part of his chest. 

He had been hurt to the point of nearly dying, and had been coughing up blood as he lay on the roof, his hands trying to find a way to get him away from there, then the Bakemon's had dragged him away at their master's order when the digi destined had suddenly showed up, a single minute to late to save him. Even as the digimons had begun their battle for the world, his limp body had been dragged down the stair and dumped into the alley behind the TV station, no longer needed.

He didn't remember how long he had been there, bleeding from the wound in his chest, cold and numbness draining him of all emotions and sense of time, then he had felt a hand crawl over his body, lifting his head up from it place on the ground to face the blurred face looking down at him, and then, the words had been whispered to him in a strong and firm tone as a hand softly move the lose hair away from his forehead. "Do you wish to survive?" 

He hadn't wasted anytime to think about it, his reaction had been straight from his heart as the words finally reached him and made his feel a small bit of hope. He had tried to move his hand, to grasp the other ones, but all he could do was mutter out a simple yes, a single word to show that he didn't want to die. 

Looming closer to him, he had become aware of the purple hair and a set of purple eyes looking down at him, both of them looking so young, yet so old at the same time, as if they had seen the ages pass over the world. Then a hand had pushed his head to the side, exposing his neck and shoulder to the other person, a brief pain had flared up and then he had felt his body grow even more numb and cold. 

"Drink!"

He had heard the word hissed at him from the person when he had drawn back as something warm tickled over his lips before he could feel a wrist force his lips apart and fill his mouth with a metallic and foul taste, every bit of him screaming that he should spit it out again, that what he was doing was wrong. But then he had forced to swallow it in order to breathe, sending the liquid down into his stomach where it spread out and sent a surge of strength through him and giving him a powerful kick.

He couldn't remember the next few seconds before the wrist had been torn from his mouth and death grip, a few of the warm and addictive liquid falling from his mouth. But what he could remember was begging for more, almost wanting to attack the other if he just move his legs a bit. But the power hadn't lasted long, and he had soon drifted off into a deep sleep, his mind trouble and blotting out the memory of that time. But he remembered waking up, his eyes looking into the dark roof of the place he was in, he could feel the soft silk sheets under his body and the soft blanket covering him and keeping him warm and safe, but even that couldn't stop the demand from his stomach as it began to growl out it's displeasure over it's lack of food. 

Lifting his hand to pull back the blanket so he could sit, he had been shocked to see the claws on each of his fingertips, not bothering to removed the blanket, he had sat up and lifted both hands to his chest, the memory of the digimon attacking him and the feeling of dying, then his eyes was drawn away from it when he noticed the sky outside the window. A huge continent had covered it as far as he could see, only broken by an ocean stretching out in the direction of Kyoto. "Wha?" Then he had felt it at the back of his mind, someone was coming closer to him.

Even before the door into the room had opened, he had been ready to fight whoever it was, his hands held up to better use his claws in a surprise ambush on his unknown host, but his attack had stopped short when the door had been opened and a purple haired young man no older then 21 had stepped in, his eyes sparkling when he notice him standing by the window. For all of it, he would have looked just like any other person he had met in his life, he was wearing a sleeveless turtleneck and baggy dark blue jeans over white sneakers, but the slit purple eyes and the fangs sticking out over each of his lips ruined the image.

Trapped under his arm, a young girl with short bleached blond haired was struggling to get lose from the iron hold, her arm had been taped together around the wrist with brown package tape with a single strip planted across her mouth to silence her. Dropping her on the bed, he had grabbed both her legs and taped them together before Tai had even managed to blink. 

Then the purple eyes had turned to face him again, the cruelty and evil hidden behind showing as he lifted a hand pulled the girl up by her hair so she could stare at him as well. "Drink." Pushing her towards the brown haired boy, Tai could only stare down at her with a confused expression before he had felt the hand pull him closer and press him down towards her neck. "Feed from her you moron, your body needs it to stay alive." 

Looking down at the girl, Tai felt his canine teeth elongate and press against his lower lip as he was pressed closer to the girls neck by the other boy, and then a myriad of sense hit him, he could smell her blood through the skin of her body, he could hear her heartbeat as clear as if he was lying his head on her bare chest and he could feel the fear radiating off her was a drug to him, demanding that he try and find more of it. Closing his eyes and bathing himself in the emotions and feelings coming from her, he snapped his eyes open when he felt the girl go rigid under him and whimper as the taste of copper and iron filled his mouth along with a very welcome feeling of warmness  and satisfaction from himself.

Turning his eyes, Tai stared right into a pair of wide and scared brown eyes pleading with him not to kill her. And then he pulled back in a rush, every part of him screaming ut against it, leaving the two puncture marks on her neck and shoulder to continue gushing out blood as she fell back down onto the floor, her hair pillowing out on the carpet as she hit it. 

Behind them, a pair of boots kept hitting the floor as the person walked up and placed his hand on his shoulder, giving it a proud and gentle clench. "She's not drained yet, and you still need more food." Reaching down past him, Tai couldn't see the purple eyes as they were hidden by the hair falling down around the face, pulling the girl up by the front of her T-shirt, the man pressed her neck back up to his mouth. "Finish her, unless you want her to die slowly."

Staring up at the man, his mouth forming a protest, Tai could feel a smirk coming from under the veil of purple hair, almost as if the person had read his thoughts. "I will kill her no matter what you do, and if you don't finish your meal from this one, I will have to bring back another one." Grabbing Taichi's hands, he left the girl in his care and walked back over to look out the window.  

Looking down on the girl, Tai closed his eyes to avoid seeing the scared look and the tears he could feel running down her cheeks, stoppping when they hit the hand holding her head. "I'm sorry." Twisting the head to side, he felt is teeth break through the skin again, drawing out the last of her blood, and into her mouth. In his arms, the girl body tense again, and slowly began to relax, the heartbeat fading and dying down until it was almost completely gone.

The sound of clapping from behind made him drop the body and growl, he could see the final moment of fear burned into the girls head, the way her hands had tried to lit up and get him away before he killed her. "You." Standing up, he could feel the blood of the girl in his stomach, sickening him and at the same time empowering him. "You Bastard." Turning and rushing forward, he slashed out with his hand, intending to use his claws to cut the many open.

Then he was smashed back and right into the wall of the room, his eyes snapping open from the force of the impact in time to see the hand grip his neck and lift him up and off the floor, the cold eyes from the purple haired man glaring up at him as the other one curled up and smacked into his stomach, sending a wave of pain through him. "Boy, I saved your life, I took you in as my first spawn, and this is how you repay me." Flying through the room as the hand tossed him away with no problems at all, he felt a table break under him when he landed on it. "Face it, you gave yourself willingly, with no regret, nothing can change that, and as my first, you will do as I say."

Looking up from his pace on the floor, Tai felt his anger still glowing inside of him, but so did a more powerful feeling of self loathing, the man was right, he had given in to the darkness, just so he could live one more day, and now, he was a monster, no better then Myotismon or any other evil digimons that his sister had spoken about. "Who are you."

Smirking as he stepped closer, the man kneeled down and pulled Tai up to his feet before he let go and pattered his head like he would pat a dog or cat, the feel of it making Tai burn with anger. "My name, well I had one at a time, just as I had a mother, father and a sister like you." Turning around to stare down at the girl, he shook his head and sat down to look into the eyes of her. "But that person no longer exist." Grapping the blond haired girls head, he gave it a sharp jerk to the side, filling the room with the sound of a bone breaking. "There, that should keep them from asking to may questions." The last part was aimed at the girl as he stood up and dumped her down on the bed, and then he looked at Tai. "Ah yes, you wanted my name, well, why don't you just call me..."  

Sitting up straight in his chair, Tai shook his head and dismissed the memories just as fast as they had sprung up. It wasn't good to dwell on the past too much, it left the chance that the weaker emotions and feelings of a simple human could take over, and he did not need that so close to the completion of phase one of the plan. Sinking into the softness of his chair, he grinned as his eyes wandered around his study, the paintings, books and furniture all looted from around the digital world, but while this floor of the castle was his, it was nothing in comparison to the floor above, the place where his master would be living once they he had arrived and finished his conquest of the digital world. 

Yawning a bit, Tai cast a look over towards the curtain keeping the sun light out from the room and snorted. It wasn't that the sunlight hurt him, he just preferred to stay in the shadows and watch his pray screw up. And it gave an added fear bonus when the pray could only see a dark Silhouette of him when he attacked.

Standing up from the chair, he picked up both digivices and walked over to the door, his eyes staring at the simple white colored first generation digivice with a bored expression the whole time. "Better keep a close guard hand on this one, at least until she accepts what she has become." Shutting the door behind him, he turned and walked down the hallway, passing the empty rooms and guards room, finally reaching the elegantly carved wooden door, his sign of courage high above it, and next to his room, the wooden door leading into his queens room was still closed with guards posted outside off it. "Wake me up when the sun sets, I want to be there when the last part of transformation takes place."

The guards bowed as the door closed and the lock clicked shut behind him, then silence filled his ears as he stared around his room, spacious, it had a soft red carpet on the floor, a sinlge vanity mirror and a chair, a window leading out into the cool morning air and right in the center near the back wall, stood the most important thing inside his little room, a large king sized double bed with a thin veil around it, shrouding whoever lay on the thin silk sheets and soft mattress in an illusion of a thin fog.

Smiling as he spotted his faithful friend and partner Blackgatomon sleeping near the foot of his bed, he walked over towards the vanity mirror, pulling off his cape on the way and dropping it over his chair, then he pulled off the dark blue jacket and dropped it as well, leaving him in just his pants as he stared at himself in the mirror for the second time that day. Staring back at him, a pale looking young man no older than 14 years old stood completely still as his eyes ran over him, finally settling first on the crest around his neck, it light only shinning when he was alone to show that he hadn't forgotten his inner virtue completely, then they reach the point between his neck and shoulder and stopped a thin mark from two teeth clearly seen near his shoulder, a clear reminder of what he had given up just to live. "Master is right, I am a foolish half mortal who can't forget the past." Pulling off his pants and dropping them on the floor as well, he walked over to his bed and pulled back the upper silk sheet and crawled down under it, giving a real smile at his partner when she looked up at him. "Sleep well... BlackGatomon."

**************

Light brown eyes blinked as they the opened once again to stare at the world again; the pain that had been running through her body before she passed out had faded away enough for her to think normally again. Sitting up in the bed, she noticed that her attire had been changed while she had been asleep and that she was now wearing a pink low cut dress that showed off her curves. 

Slowly standing up, she stared across the room and right into the small mirror sitting on the desk in it. Her eyes growing wider each moment at what she was seeing, her face looked the same and her body likewise, if one ignored the small claws on her fingers and the fangs in her mouth. Dropping back down on the bed, she didn't hear the door open as Taichi stepped in and stared at her, his smile reaching his eyes, as he looked her over. 

"Welcome Mimi, my queen of the night."

Gasping a the voice, Mimi turned around to find herself staring right into the brown eyes of Taichi, a smile lighting up his face as he lifted up one of her hands and planted a kiss on it. "I trust that you like your new clothes." At the sudden fire in her eyes, he grinned and waved a hand over at the corner where the other dresses were placed. "Relax, the Floramon's changed you not me. Your old clothes have been placed in storage for the time being."

Glaring up at him, Mimi felt her hand curl up into a fist, then she lunched herself off the bed and smacked it into the smiling face as hard as she could, taking a small feeling of satisfaction at the shock and unprepared look on the vampire boys face, then her expression turned into a puzzled one when the boy's head snapped back from the force, a drop of red liquid flying through the air.  

Moving his head back down to stare at her, Tai felt his eyes narrow with irritation as his hand moved up to wipe the blood away from his lip, his eyes moving from the shocked brown ones to stare at the crimson liquid running down his hand. "You, you dare to hurt me." Fixing a death glare at her, he smiled and lifted a hand to cup her face. "Truly, just like I once tried to do to my master, only he didn't give any second chances."

Tbc: Dark Queen Mimi?

AN: Well, another chapter is ready and in an almost record time for me. And that even with my other big project running at the same time. Something must be really wrong with me if I can put out that much in such a short time. Still, something had to suffer from it, and the drawing of Vampire Taichi had to take that role. I'll try and put together at least a sketch for you happy readers to view.  But if you think I'm too slow with making the drawing, then you can whip up a pic of your own and send it too me. Okay.

And as I said the last time, I'm sorry that the first chapter got deleted along with a few reviews. What happened was that I somehow managed to delete the first chapter when I was trying to make a few changes to the story main information, don't ask me how I did it, I been puzzling over it for the first weeks after it happened.

Peace out,

Dak.


	3. Part III

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Summery: AU, very AU and dark, with mentioning of torture, violence and blood drinking.

Well, this is the last chapter that will focus mostly on the Tai-Mimi situation, starting in the next chapter, there will be more of the digi destined then in the last few chapters, I will also explain just what Taichi is doing in the digital world.

=============================

Spawn of the vampire

Part III

Dark Queen Mimi?

=============================

Snarling at the brown haired boy and fighting down the urge to scream at the pressure he used to hold her arm with, Mimi lashed out wildly with her free hand, her anger making her forget all about techniques or aiming as all she wanted was to kill the boy outright for his crimes. "Shut up, I'm not your servant, I'm not your queen, and I'm not your anything!" Her cries turned into half sobs as she blindly lashed out, hoping to hurt him just as much as she had been hurt.

Moving back out of her reach, Tai blinked as the sharp claws nails came within centimeters of leaving a couple of nasty red welts on his right cheek, then he shifted back a bit and brought out a hand to grab her left arm before it could get a chance to even strike again. "Nice attack Mimi." Pushing her around, he gave a shove and sent her stumbling forward to land on the bed. "But don't try it again, I'm more experienced in fighting then you."

Glaring up at him as she turned around on the bed, Mimi pulled up on the dress to make it cover her a bit better then before and stood back up again, her brown eyes flashing with her anger and rage at what he had done. "You bastard." A sharp right hook nearly hit him as she lashed out, but all she found was air as the brown haired boy popped out of the air a bit to her left. "Stand still."  

Smiling a bit at the words shot at him, Tai began to back away from her frantic attacks, his eyes showing just much fun he was getting out of it. Then he moved forward and grabbed her outstretched arm and sneaked his other arm around her waist, dipping her back low and smiling at her in a sweet way. "So, would you like to dance some more, or shall we sit down and talk."

Glaring up at him, she took a small satisfaction in smashing her free foot down on his, the look of pain that croseds his face rising her own hopes and letting a small smile cross her face as he pulled her back up and humped a bit back from her. "Talk, and nothing else." Crossing her arms, she walked over and stared at the amount of dresses she had been given. "First things first, I want my t- shirt and skirt right now, got it." Turning around to glare at him, she noticed the small grin he was shooting her as he hovered near the door of the room of her prison room. "Second, where's Palmon, I want her back now."

Smiling at her as friendly as he could, he un crossed his arms and pushed off the wall moving a bit closer to her, but still keeping a minimum safe distance in case she decided to try and attack him again. Avoiding her angry brown eyes, no matter how cute they looked to him with that glow in them, he instead settled for staring at the walls of the room, o matter how boring they were to look at, as he pondered over her demands in his head, and questioning himself why he was smiling, he shouldd smack some sense into her, show her that he was the master in this bond, not her, so why was he acting this way, the master had told him that he should never show any weakness. 

Crossing her arms at the silence and the far away look in the boys eyes, she sighed and cursed the perverted mind of his to even come up with the idea for the dress she had to wear. Tapping her foot to show just how annoyed she was, she finally snapped when he frowned and began to shake his head. "Well, say something!" Her hand nearly lashed out to slap him out of his daze, when he shook his head and turned away from her. "Dammit, why are you doing this?."

Coughing a bit into his hand at the words aimed at him, Tai looked up at the ceiling and tried to push down the thoughts moving through his head at the time, he had to. "Sorry, as I was saying before Mimi, care to join me for dinner." Moving his hand out and opening the door, he reached out the other one to take her hand and guide her towards the study room for their dinner.

Glaring at the hand as if it was coated in toxic waste, Mimi snorted and moved past him, her eyes closed to avoid seeing the very short flash of hurt in his eyes, then she heard the door close behind her and the sound of feet running to catch up with her. "So, Yagami, why are you here, I mean, creeps like you shouldn't even be here in the digital world." Shivering a bit as she looked at the ghost digimons, she fought down the urge to rub her arms.

Tai smiled at the question and slowed down to walk next to her, his eyes moving from one side of the corridor to the other, he could see his Bakemon guards and a few digimon servants moving around, stopping to bow when he passed them, just as they should. "Well, as I told you, I'm here because my master ordered me too." Stopping at the door leading into his study, Tai moved up in front of Mimi and held the door open for her.

Moving into the room and ignoring the brown haired boy in the process, she stopped cold as she stared around the place she had just entered and shuddered at the memory that sprang back to life as she spotted the carpet and the chair near the fireplace, she could clearly remember the feeling of his blood as it filled her, the numbness as he drained her of her own, the hours of mental and physical torture she had to endure before it was all over. 

Feeling sick at the memories, she lifted up a hand to wipe away the cold sweat from her forehead that seemed to have sprung up in a matter of seconds, behind her, she could hear that vampire boy moving closer to her as he closed the door, he was going to hurt her again, hit her, cause her pain and verbally insult her and torment her with tales of her friends death. 

The floor loomed closer as her feet gave out, and then her fall stopped as someone grabbed her around her waist and pulled her back up again, a soothing voice telling her it would all be okay, that she wasn't going to suffer again as she was carried across the room, the arms holding her in a gentle way. Then a soft and warm chair broke her rest, and her head lulled to side. The coldness of her forehead was replaced by a small warmth as a hand pressed up against it. "You're freezing, damn." The sound of feet moving across the floor told her that the person was still there. A sound of a fist hitting a open hand filled the room and then he moved back to her, his hand lifting up her head to so she could stare into his brown eyes. "You need blood, that's what's wrong." Something pressed up against her lips, and then parted them gently as something pressed into the space between her lips, a second later something warm flowed into her mouth, making her gag as she tried to breath it down, then she swallowed the first mouthful of it and felt herself warming up again. "Drink, you need it." her hands moved up to secure the source of the liquid removing the coldness from her.

Opening her eyes at the fourth mouthful of the wonderful liquid, she screamed as loud as she could at the sight of the boy holding his wrist up to her mouth, his eyes staring concerned at her, then she moved her eyes down to see her hands holding the bare arm closer to her mouth so she could better drink from it. Mimi screamed out even louder as she pushed the wrist away from her mouth and fought to get the taste of blood out of it. Failing, she gave a half sob and fell back into the comfy chair, her face getting hidden in the shadow it cast. "I think I'm going to be sick."

Kneeling on the floor, Tai fought back the urge to comment on how evil she looked ion the chair, her hands holding on tightly to arms rest and her face and upper torso hidden in the shadows, instead, he stared into the darkness, trying to see if she was still in need of more blood to fight back the cold. Judging by the breathing and the way her claws were starting to dig into the armrest it was clear that he tried to feed her any more, he would be needing medical help later, he grinned. "Well, that should tide you over until our food gets here."

Glaring at him, and losing the effect in the shadow, Mimi wished that she could stab the vampire right through his heart with a stake at that moment, to hell with trying to stay alive to protect the other, if they didn't want to save her, then she would just do it herself, this boy would die, nothing could save him from her wrath. 

"Tai"

Mimi turned her head to se a small black shape move through the room, a golden ring glinting in the dim light as it came closer, moving past the table, she could make out a pair of blue eyes, purple gloves and a long tail with a ring on it. "A black gatomon?" Staring away from the black version of the feline digimon she knew, she moved her eyes to stare at the bushy haired boy in surprise. "How?"

Tai turned around and picked up the feline digimon and settled down in a smaller and lees imposing chair, keeping his eyes focused on the small flames rising from the wood burning in the fireplace. "She's my partner digimon, the master showed me where to find her when I woke up from my transformation." Moving a hand slowly, he stroked the purring lack cat like digimon in his lap, his eyes having taken on a distant look as he did it. "She's my friend, my only friend."

Removing her own eyes from the sight of loneliness in the brown orbs hidden by a few strands of chocolate brown hair, she settled for running a finger over her lips, staring at the slight red color it gained as she pulled it back to stare at it. "Why did you do this to me?" Her voice didn't tremble with the question, but she felt that it should, it wasn't right to speak of something so sensitive as what he did without a bit of fear.

Tai sighed at the question, and felt a small voice in the back of his mind repeating it once again, the voice demanding the same answer as she was, and for all he thought about it, he couldn't come up with one. "I don't know, I wanted you by my side, not as friend, and not as a servant." Staring deeper into he yellow flames, he sighed as he forced out the words that he nearly chocked on. "I want you, to be my queen, to sit with me when the master has returned and reclaimed his empire Mimi, I want you to be with me."

Sinking further down into the chair, Mimi felt a headache forming as the words sank in, she wasn't ready for this, she wasn't old enough to handle this, she was just, what almost fourteen, she wanted to meet others, not spend it in a castle in another world with a vampire boy who loved her. "Why me?" 

Tai stared at her, his eyes showing a deep confusion over the question, as if he didn't even now the answer to the question, and was hoping that she would tell him why. Finally, he lowered his head and stared at the carpet, his fingers rubbing the purring Blackgatomon he was holding. "I don't know, I..."

Sighing at the answer, Mimi turned her head away and stared at the round table in the corner of the study, a red cloth was spread out over it with a single three armed candle holder in the center of it, two wine glasses were standing on it, and two plates were placed atop two bigger ones and arranged so whoever sat at the table would be facing one another. "What... What are those for."

Turning his head from his thinking, Tai stared at the plates and glasses and coughed a bit embarrassed as he fingered the cape he wore at the memory of what he had planned for the night. "Well, I thought that we could have a small dinner in here, just the two of us." Looking at the brown haired girl from the corner of his eyes, he stood up and walked over to the table and pulled a chair back. "That is, if you want to join me for dinner."

Glaring at him as she stood up, she blinked as Blackgatomon rubbed against her leg and gave a small purr to tell her that she was still there, then she looked at the table, the chair and the boy and sighed deeply. "Fine, but I hope for your sake that the foods not all bloody   and raw."

Laughing a bit as he pushed the chair in so she could sit down at the table, he looked at her and smiled as he lit all three candle on the way over to his own chair, his eyes sparkling in the light cast by the candles. "No, nothing like that, but... We do need to talk about your new state, certain things must be explained." Lifting up a finger and staring at it, he used a claw on his other hand to make a small cut on it, letting a few drops of blood form at the tip. "Like the need for blood." 

Across from him at the table, Mimi stared at the blood drop and felt her stomach churn at the though of having to drink something like that once more, and what if she did drink someone's blood, would she become like this boy, a monster that didn't care if he hurt anyone, if he killed just to feed. "I don't know if I can, I don't want too."

Sighing at the words, Tai wiped the blood drop away and stared at her from across the table, his hands moving down to rest on the edge of the table, his eyes closing as if he was trying to tell himself something important. Then he reopened them and stared at the brown haired girl and gave a small nervous smile. "Listen, the blood isn't the life, our soul keeps the body going, but to keep the soul empowered enough to fight off death, we need to drink blood to absorb the life force from it, if not, we grow cold and in active, and if that state lasts too long, we will really die."

Gulping and fighting down a few sobs that threaten to spill out, the brown haired girl turned her head away to stare at the bookcase near the wall of the room, fighting down the feeling of sickness going through her. "I don't want too, I don't want to drink other peoples blood." 

Taichi looked at her and shook his head at the words and lifted up his glass from the table and stared at it, his eyes glowing with a thick layer of amusement at his dinner partner's complaint. "Mimi, you do know that if you don't... you'll die." Lifting up his free hand, he held out one finger at her as he narrowed his eyes, as his voice became a tad colder then before. "And I don't want you to die." 

Mimi felt a series of Goosebumps run down her spine at the tone, it was so similar to the one he had used before he turned her into this thing, and it left no doubt that if she didn't drink any blood herself, he would force her too. "But." The cold eyes looking at her made her shut up and stare down at the table with a defeated expression. 

Taichi slowly put down his glass and looked down at Black Gatomon sitting on the floor, her yellow eyes following every single movement that both he and Mimi made. Clearing his throat, he smiled as her eyes turned to stare at him, then she nodded in response to his unspoken request and raced out the door. Looking back at Mimi, Tai smiled as friendly as he could and folded his hands together. "I hope you like tonight dinner, I heard it's a nice Salmon and salad compo, with Pineapple flavored ice-cream to desert, and just to make you used to your new state, we won't have any blood until later, it would completely ruin the meal anyway."

Mimi nearly chocked on her own protest and screams at the prospect of having to drink more blood late, but fought it down as a rather strange idea popped up in her head, if it worked, she wouldn't have to kill anyone, and it might just bug the life out of her unwanted host as well. Smiling as sweetly as she could, she reached down and trailed a finger along the tip of her glass, running it around the circle and grinning at the small sound it cause. {Real crystal looks like the evil ones really have the best stuff.} Watching his confused expression over the way she looked at him, she knew that she had him right where she wanted him. "Taichi... I don't want to drink anyone's blood..." At the slightly darkening expression, she just smiled even sweeter at him. "But yours, please, you don't want to disappoint you queen do you?" Ending the plea with the eyes of utter cuteness, she nearly broke out laughing at the sight of Taichi's coldness losing out to her cuteness.

Smiling stupidly back at her as he kept staring right at her face in an almost hypnotic state, Tai felt himself lose track of what he was thinking, the only thing that got through his mind was the fact that she only wanted to drink his blood and not anyone's else, and while he should protest something like that, those lips were so cute and those eyes... "Sure Mimi... Whatever you say." Smiling stupidly as she lowered her head a to hide those eyes behind her eyelashes, he felt like dropping down onto the floor and melting on the spot. Did she have to be so cute?

**************

Walking into her room much later, Mimi dropped down on her bed with a loud and content sigh, her whole body relaxed and ready for sleep, the meal had been nothing but simply great, but then again, what wouldn't be after a week with nothing but dry bread and a few cups of water. Looking at her arms and dress, she smiled in a content way as she decided to find and thank the cook for the great meal later and stood up. Across from her, a small nightstand stood, a large mirror casting a reflection of her back. "It's not that bad... could some more pink though." Looking closer at her reflection, she couldn't really see any differences, the only thing different about her was the small claws and her fangs, and did they look cute when she smiled like that.

A gentle knock on the door broke her out of her inner thoughts and called her attention to the door leading into the room. Feeling a bit curious as to who would be knocking on it at such a time of the day, she mentally kicked herself when she recalled that it couldn't be anyone else then Taichi. Walking slowly over to the door, she lifted a hand up to the handle and grabbed it, ready to open the door if she wanted too, if not, it stayed closed. "Taichi, that you?"

A low shuffling was heard from the outside and ten a small cough as the vampire boy tried to cover up the fact that he was nervous, a trait that nearly had Mimi drop to the floor in laughter at how absurd it was, here was a boy who had killed countless digimons and even a human from what he had said, and he was feeling embarrassed over talking to her. "What is it fang boy?" 

Tai looked at the heavy wooden door and stared down at the plant like digimon glaring up at him, her insect eyes showing just how much she wanted to use her poison Ivy to strangle him to death if he as much as looked at Mimi the wrong way, and he could only guess just what she wanted to do if she learned what he was thinking about the brown haired girl most of the time, fighting down the hotness in his cheeks, Taichi returned his stare to the door and coughed one more time, trying to get his nerve back under control. "Uh, I have a surprise for you." 

Opening the door a small bit, Mimi peeked out through the crack and blinked, as all she could see was the brown haired boy standing there, then she noticed someone gasping loudly, and looked down. "Palmon!!" Flinging open the door, she reached down and grabbed the plant like digimon in a hug, looking up at the boy looking at her with a small smile, she grinned and stood up again. "Thank you!" Reaching out, she pulled him in and gave him a quick hug, and then she stepped back and pulled Palmon in through the door with her. "Sleep well, Taichi."

Outside the now closed door, Taichi stood completely still for a whole second before he turned around and began to walk down the hallway, stopping only to stare darkly at the snickering Bakamon moving through the hallway from the direction of his study, the sight of what had happened to him clearly seen by it. "Shut up." Stomping past the ghost digimon, Tai lifted up a hand and tried to calm down his heart with not result. 

Inside the bedroom, Mimi stared down at her digimon with a huge grin on her face as she began to go through the clothes left behind by Tai, several normal day dresses and a single ballroom type one that reminded her off the princess like dress she had always wanted, and near the bottom of the pile, she found a single long night dress. Holding it up, she turned around and showed it off to Palmon. "What do you think?"

On the bed, Palmon stared up at her with narrowed eyes. "Mimi, what wrong with you have you forgotten hat he did to us?"

Smiling at the plant like digimon, Mimi sat down on the bed and smiled as she pulled her close. "No, but for now, I have to stay here, and while I am, I might as well make the best of it."

Sighing loudly at the tone of voice from her partner, Palmon shook her head. "Mimi?"

Holding up the nightdress again, Mimi stared down at Palmon with a curious look on her face. "Now, what do you think off it?"

"It's... great."

**************

Dropping back down into his favorite chair, Taichi sighed as he could feel the shadows cover him up in a blessed feeling of superiority and evilness. Lifting his fingers and staring at them, he closed his eyes as the giddiness' from the hug faded away, and a larger potion of annoyance over his weakness filled him instead. "How dare she play around with me like that?" Smashing a hand down on the armrest he vowed to make her realize just who was in charge the next time they met, but those eyes, they were so cute.

"Boy!"

Sitting straight up in his chair, Tai stared around the room as the voice faded away, then he jumped up and rushed over to stare at the small computer screen that had flickered into to life. The image on the screen showing the one person he still hadn't informed of his choosing for a queen. "Master!"

The face on the screen stared back at Tai, the only clear thing from the shadows covering it was the purple eyes gleaming in the dim light of the room the man was sitting in. "Taichi, I hear that you have turned someone without my permission." Folding his hands at the words, the eyes narrowed in a silent show of anger. "Care to explain?"

Tai lowered his head at the sight on the narrowed eyes staring back at him, the feeling of his master's wrath running through his mind as he barely noticed the hands curl up into twin fists, the mouth a thin line. "I... I... I wanted her to be my queen." Voice failing until it was just a whisper, Tai lowered his eyes as he waited for the angry outburst.

"You damn weakling!! You'll screw everything up!!"

The words cut into the messy haired boy as he, not by the volume of it, but by the feelings behind it, felt nothing but pure contempt at his failure to live up to the master's expectations of him. Clenching his own hands and taking a small delight in the pain as his claws broke the flesh of the hands, he raised his head and stared at the master with nothing but devotion in his eyes. "I'm sorry master, I let my emotions run off with me."

"Bah, you should know better, I thought you hated all digi destined, why are you taking one for yourself then." Silence rained as the master waited for an answer to his question, getting none, a sharp intake of breath sound through out the room. "Boy, I brought you back from life, but his thing you did, you acted outside of the orders I gave you, you were to kill them both, the blond haired boy and the girl, now, I will be merciful, and let you keep your new toy, but disobey me again, and I will have her killed off, along with your Digimon partner."

Silence filled the room as the light vanished after the last words, on the ground, Tai slowly lifted his head and stared at the place where the image of his master had been just a few seconds ago, now all he could see was a dark screen, and a dusty computer standing on the small table in the corner.

Staring darkly at the computer screen before him, a lone human man sat in a dark room, his purple hair hanging down around his face and hiding it from view, in one hand he held a small white square device, the screen of it showing no light despite being so close to a digital gate, the other hand was busy tapping the table he was sitting at. "Yes Taichi, it will take time to find, but even I have my limits when it comes to waiting." Stopping his monologue, he turned to stare into the shadows of the room. "It's rude to hover child."

Turning to stare back into the darkness of the room, he looked at the hovering outline of a human near the doorway. The form staying beyond the threshold  of the doorway, but the sudden jump it made showed that he had broken the coolness around it. "So, what is it that you want, child, do you want to have your chance at finding the key and taking Taichi's place as my favored child?" 

Stepping over the edge of the doorway, she stopped right beyond it, not taking another step into the room, standing still and not saying a single word, she lifted up a small red D-3 with three black stripes around it, her hand trembling as she did it. The screen glowing a bit as the digital gate responded to the closeness of the device. "Yes, I want to go there, like you promised."

Smirking a bit as he waved at the computer screen, he moved around to stare right into the girls eyes his own showing just how much he wanted to go there himself, and the anger over not being able to do it. "Listen, you will get your turn soon, right now, you have better return to your current mission."

Nodding at the order, the girl turned around and walked out of the room, stopping only to pick up her backpack and a small sleeping digimon from the floor, then she walked down the hallway seconds before the sound of a door closing could be heard. In the room, the purple haired man returned to staring at the screen in front of him. "Soon Gennai, and those blasted Digital Gods as well, soon I'll make you all remember the terrible crimes you committed so long ago." Laughter filled the darkness as the man rose and left the room. 

**************

Standing in the digital world, Matt and Garurumon stared out over the control spire littered savanna and sighed, the hunt for any traces of Mimi's whereabouts had lasted most of the day, and they still hadn't seen any traces of Mimi, but plenty of in slaved digimons working themselves to death in order to please Ken and his dark wishes. "No trace of her here as well." Turning to look at the setting sun in the distance, Matt pulled out his D-terminal and quickly reported back to Izzy about the lack of traces. "Tomorrow, we'll try the next are okay?"  

Next to him, Garuruumon nodded and turned around to return to his patrolling of the part of digital world he lived in, protecting it and all of the digimons living there from danger as well from the digimon Kaisers evil. "Matt, we'll find her, and if the Kaiser has her, the new digi destined will free her."

Smiling at the reaurance from his partner, Matt pulled out his digivice and walked up to the small TV placed in the middle of the area, the image of it showing Izzy and Miyako waiting on the other side. "I know Garurumon, still, keep an eye out for her will you." Light filled the area as Matt activated the gate and felt himself getting pulled through to Earth.

Landing on the hard floor of the red haired boys room, Matt groaned at the impact he had made, someone really had to figure out a better way to travel back and fourth from one world to the other. "Izzy, tell me has anyone else found her?" His voice cool and steady, it did show just how concerned he was over the disappearance of a member of their team.

Looking at the blond haired boy, Izzy sighed and shook his head as he returned to watching the digital world through the map on his computer screen, his eyes never leaving the e-mail box in the corner. "No... I have several looking for her though, Tentomon is out trying to find some information, and Sora and Joe should be back soon as well, maybe they have learned something." 

Miyako pulled off her glasses and started to clean them a bit with a small piece of cloth as she turned to stare at the blond haired boy climbing up from the floor. Then she put them back on and sighed at she too had nothing but bad news to share. "Kari, TK and rest of the new digi destine confronted Ken today and demanded to know if he had her, but he just laughed and asked why he should waste his time capturing such a weak and imperfect creature."  

Izzy narrowed his eyes and turned back to stare at the two other kids in the room, his eyes full of worry. "Sora's just finished with her area and found no signs of her there, but a Floramon told us she had seen a blond haired kid matching Michaels description around a week or two ago, so she'll stick around a bit longer and try and find some more information." Looking back to his computer as a loud beep rang out through the room, he stared at the map of the digital world as another black square turned white. "Well, Davis and his team just freed another area from Ken's control."

Matt growled at the words and lifted up his digivice again as he began to walk forward once more, his eyes hard with determination at what he was planning on doing. "I'm going back in, maybe I can find something."

Looking at him, Izzy sighed and turned around in his chair at the words. "Matt you been there non stop since you learned that Mimi was missing, you need to get some sleep and also, your father seems to be a bit upset with you missing school." 

Glaring at the red ahired boy, Matt cleanched his digivice tigther and reache dto puss him out of the way. "I'm going, school can take a break, Mimi needs my help now."

Miyako grabbed the shoulder of the blond haired boy and pulled gently on it, her eyes full of worry over weather or not a fight was going to break out in the room. "Relax... both of you, Matt, you need a break, and so do the others." Looking up at the clock, she reached own and grabbed her school bag with the sleeping Poromon in it. "I'll see you both tomorrow okay."

Matt stared after her and slumped his shoulders as he started to feel just how tired he was, looking at the computer screen, he cursed under his breath as he turned around. "Okay, but I'll be back right after school to look for her." The sound of the door slamming jolted Izzy out of his study of the digital world map and cause him to stare back at the wooden door with a confused look on his face. Outside the apartment of the computer whiz, Matt stared out over the dark city and clenched his hand. "I swear Mimi, that we will find you."

**************

Somewhere in the other end of Server, a tall cliff rose up over a fog covered forest and cast a dark shadow over the wide spread trees, the castle on the top of the cliff towering up towards the evening sky with an air of darkness around it, the black and dark grey stones used to built it adding to the feeling. Around the building, a large garden ran from the walls of the castle to the small wall at the edge of the cliff.

As the wind played through the trees near the wall, a hand pushed a few branches out of the way and allowed a single person to pass by without getting hampered in her progress. Moving out from the shadows of the trees, the person stopped and looked at his lovely pink haired companion as she stared into the horizon, a small fear of talking to her settling in as he struggled to at least find an opening question or line, anything to break the silence that had settled between them. Finally, he coughed and shot a small look at her from out of the corner of his eyes. "Soo.. Have you and Palmon settled in comfortably?" 

Not turning around, the girl clenched her hands and stared at the plant type digimon next to her, her eyes showing the still hot anger at her treatment from the bushy haired boy next to her. Looking down at what she was wearing, she cursed the boy to the darkest pits of the digital world for his fashion sense. Starting to fire off a hot remark to him, she stopped when she could sense the mixed feeling from him, and the anger he had displayed when she had attacked him before, maybe yelling at him wouldn't help her in the long run, and if she played all nice and friendly to him, she might just have a chance to escape. "Yes."

Smiling a bit of the strained voice aimed at him, Taichi relaxed in the knowledge that she had cooled down enough to leave out the venom from her words when she spoke to him. Still, it would be better if they could at least talk to one another with a somewhat civilized tone of voice. "Look Mimi... I..."

Turning around the name, she glared at him as she moved her hand rapidly through the air, and took a great deal of satisfaction from the sound of flesh hitting flesh and the shocked look he gave as his head moved to the side with the force of her slap. "Don't you call me that you bastard, you're nothing but a cold blooded murder." Ignoring the half chocked cry from Palmon, Mimi lifted her hand and pulled the small Tiara from her head, turning to toss it over the edge of the cliff when a cold hand closed around her arm. "What."

Glaring at her from under his brown hair, Tai reached out a hand and took the tiara from her hand and looked at it in his hand, the gold and pink stones glinting in the air as he ran a finger over them. "You hate me." It wasn't a question to her, but a statement, a final punctuation to what he had guesses since the minute she had woken up from her transformation. "You wish you had never met me, that you were still together with your friends." Looking up from it, Tai stared right into the soft brown eyes of the girl, his fear of her resentment towards him clearly showing in them.

Stepping back from him at the words, Mimi twisted her arm and tore it free from the brown haired boy's grip, her eyes taking on a scared look as she began to fall over in the long dress, her legs caught in the hem of the skirt. "Why are you doing this?" Her voice, no matter how much she tried to hide it, still showed too much of her fear.

Taichi stopped and looked at her, his eyes closed as he seemed to slip into deep thoughts, but inside of himself, he was clearly remembering his master words, his own anger over how he lost all traces of coldness and evil around her lately, all he could do was smile stupidly and try to make her feel as good as he could. "I don't know... I just." Ending it there, he turned away from her and reached down to grasp his partner digimon, stopping when he noticed the black feline staring a small grass straw moving in the evening wind. Plucking it, he began to bat it around in the air right over her head, smiling as she tied to catch it with her front paws.

Staring out over the flat dark forest below them, Mimi closed her eyes and fought back the sobs she knew was forming, behind her, she could hear the boy Tai staring at his fooling around with his partner digimon, and next to her, Palmon had a vine wrapped around her, to show some support in this dark time she was going to be facing. "I don't want to do this, but for now, I have to live through it."

Looking up from teasing blackgatomon with a grass straw, Tai stared at the pink haired girl, his eyes half narrowed as one part of him wanted to slap some sense into her, and the other one screaming in protest at what he had done to an innocent girl, and the final part, the one that scared him the most simply didn't care what happened, as long as he lived to see the next day.

Looking over at him, Mimi felt her mind twist over her confusion at what he had done, she hated him for killing Michael, for hurting her and Palmon with his sick and demented cruelty, and yet, he was showing kindness to her all of a sudden. One would almost think that there were two persons inside of him, the cold and evil vampire and the human boy he looked like struggling to escape. "What's your secret Tai, what are you hiding from yourself and the world?"

TBC: The Search for Mimi.


	4. Part IV

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Summery: AU, very AU and dark, with mentioning of torture, violence and blood drinking. Things begin to pick up as Tai begins to look for the objects wanted by his master, the rest of the Digi Destined are stressed in their search for Mimi and fighting the evil Digimon Kaiser at the same time.

=============================

Spawn of the vampire

Part IV

The Search for Mimi

=============================

A dust cloud rose from the ground as the great line of Monochomons moved in a large single file line across it, each of them dragging a large wagon filled with mining tools behind them. Moving next to the Monochromons, several smaller digimons walked as well, each of them holding either a shovel or a pick axe as they struggled to keep up with the other ones, but that was just he grunt forces of this little force, around the digimons, walked his real army, countless Gazimon's and Goblinmon's marching in perfect lines. They may all be just Rookies, but with enough numbers of them, he didn't need to worry about the champions rumored to live in the city, and if they still to be a problem, there were his air force to take them down.

Looking up from his own Devidramon, he could see the other devil type dragon digimons flying in a perfect triangle shaped formation, their emotionless eyes all staring at the horizon, looking for a treat or worse, the Digimon Kaiser, that arrogant brat had actually dared to moved into his area of the digital world recently, despite everything he had done to make sure he wouldn't. Something which had been unexpected, still with all the areas the poor genius had lost in the east, it was only logical that he would start to move to the east, where barely any Digi brats showed up. 

Staring out over his area of the western part of the digital world with his eyes full of concentration, Taichi bit his lip as he thought of the place he had been sent to in order to look for the four objects desired by his master, if he didn't want to lose everything as well as his life, he had to find it quickly, very quickly, his master had made that very clear.

Staring at the many digimon below him, he gave a small smile and lifted his head up to gaze at their destination in the distance, the towering stone buildings of Oasis Deen, the largest village this side of the desert, and the only place you could find water before the Digital Wasteland really began, and the place his master had tracked the first of the shrines with the legendary digi cores to.

Staring down at his force below with a grim look on his face, he nodded and lifted his hand to signal them to drop down their digging tools and instead prepare for battle. On the ground, a few of the wagons attached to the Monochomons opened to reveal the fighting force he had brought along with him, the mixed number of digimons turned to stare at the village in the distance. Lowering his arm in as a signal, Taichi yelled out the command as well. "Gazimons, Goblimons Attack!" Even if he didn't get what he wanted from them, he would at least have gotten some more slaves and a few presents to give to his queen.

Smiling and taking in the screams of terror and fear, he looked on as several buildings went down in place of fire and smoke, several digimons running around screaming or in a few cases, attacking back, their eyes showing their anger at getting attack out of the blue like that. "Devidramons." The group of the flying devil dragon digimons flew up and waited for his order. "Attack!"

It was over all too soon, the few champions who might have been able to at least stop his attack had run away with the rest of the escaped villagers, the rest of the mixed level digimons had been trapped and forced into a series of nets and cages to be taken back to the castle and the choice between becoming a slave or dying in the damp, dark cells far below the castle.

Looking down at the village from the top, his eyes moved to the one part of the city still being defended quiet effectively, mentally noting to himself that he would have to send his troops through retraining, Taichi willed the Devidramon to land right outside the shabby looking stone building, his eyes going to the number of defeated Gazimons and Goblinmon's lying in the sand around him, then he looked up at the large blue champion insect type digimon panting as he stood protectively before the doorway into the building. "You there, give up, you don't stand a chance."

Looking up, brown eyes narrowed as the digimon's four blue arms lifted up into an defensive position in case he decided to make one wrong move, the eyes moving over the sight of the massing digimon's before him, and the large Devidramon before him, then his eyes moved to look on the figure on the back of it. "You... You're a human... The Digimon Kaiser." 

Shaking his head at the words of the digimon, Taichi stepped forward and lifted up a hand to move his cape out of the way, his skin and eyes growling a the feel of the desert sun beating down at it, and making him wish that he could at least have done this in the middle of the night, that way, the death tool would have really gotten high in the battle, nothing like trapped digimon's in a burning building to brighten up the night. But he was not here to amuse himself, he had a time table to keep. Returning his mind to the task at hand, Taichi allowed his eyes to look directly into the eyes of digimon before him, contempt and arrogance almost flowing from them. "You, you're the digimon guardian of one of the legendary digi cores, right?"

Kabuterimon growled as he moved a bit back to get a better attack position, his eyes sweeping over the area and settling on the large number of Rookie digimons moving in to outflank him on all sides. Then he looked up at the human before him. "Yeah, so what of it Kaiser." The words dripped with sarcasm as Kabuterimon glared coldly at the human above him.

Taichi sifted his head up and stared at the building with narrowed eyes showing the cold and evil villain he wanted to look like, while his body was burning with a feeling of joy in his cold heart, he had done it, and before that other bumbling idiot his master had turned had found one. "The digi core of legend, soon it will be mine." Lifting a hand, he smiled as he looked down at the insect before him. "Thank you fool." Then he snapped the hand down. "Attack!"

**************

Far away from the battle site, Mimi Tachikawa was sitting on a small stone bench in the castle garden, her pink hair moving with the soft wind blowing through the area at the time. At her feet, her digimon partner Palmon were relaxing as well, her vine like fingers moving into the dirt to at least get some kind of nutrition out of it. Moving her head to look at the wall outlining the garden, Mimi sighed at the rather depression thought of it also outlining the wall of her new life.

Lifting a hand to her grumbling stomach and moaning at the demand it gave her, she closed her eyes and dropped down to lie on her back, thankful for the new dress she had managed to get the Floramon slaves to make her, while she didn't like to see them cower in the dirt before her, it still left a sense of superiority and a tingling for more of it in her body. "Where is he?"

Looking up from her meal, Palmon turned her head to stare at her human partner, her insect like eyes showing a great deal of confusion and a slight amount of anger at her partners reluctance to at least make an attempt at fleeing from this place. "Mimi." Watching as the brown eyes of her partner focused on her, she stood up and crossed her arms in front of her. "I don't get you, you complain about him when he's here, and when he gone, you complain over the fact that he not here." 

Staring at her partner with a deadpan expression, Mimi signed and lifted up a hand to look at, the claws on the tip of her fingers still giving her a few chills down her spine, even if she had almost gotten used to them in the course of the last week. Still, she couldn't wait to find a way to become human again, and in the meantime, there were a few needs that this body demanded from her. A loud growl filled the area and had even Palmon sweat drop at the level of it. "Um... I'm complaining because I'm hungry, and eating the food the kitchen sends me doesn't even help."

Her flower falling down to clover her eyes, Palmon sighed and felt like smacking herself in the face. "Mimi." Then she looked up at the castle and blinked as she spotted a small black feline looking down at them from one of the highest placed windows at that wall, more precisely the ones on Taichi's floor. "Mimi, how about we check out the rest of the castle for a bit, you know, just until Taichi returns." 

Looking at her partner digimon in confusion, the pink haired girl finally shrugged and stood up, her eyes turned to look on the imposing stone building she now called home, even if it was just for a short while, until she had gotten the vampire boy calmed down enough for her to convince him to let her go back to earth for awhile. Then she could return with Matt and the others and bring Taichi back to the real world, and justice.

Staring down at the grass as she followed after her partner digimon, she briefly wondered why she was so reluctant to do it, he had to face justice, he had tortured and killed her friend Michael, he had hunted down and enslaved countless digimons through force and fear alone, yet, he was so nice to her, willing to go out of his way, to make her happy, but he was also evil, she had seen the cells, hell, she had lived in one, the digimon around her looked and acted happy, but she could the fear in their eyes, they were nothing more then slaves to that boy, and the most painful and dark thing to be held against him was the death of Michael, her friend, and still, there was something about the boy that made her feel strange near him, it wasn't love it just couldn't be, she couldn't stand be anywhere near him, he was so arrogant and cold, he was evil and the enermy, yet, he could also be so kind and friendly, she had seen him act completely different with Blackgatomon then other digimons, his behavior also changed when she was around him, although not as much, but it was still there if one knew how to look for it. "Izzy, he would have an explanation for this, I just know it." 

Turning around and moving back into the bedroom, Blackgatomon jumped off the window still and purred to herself as she landed on the carpet, the softness of it giving her the urge to curl up and get a quick catnap before going out to find something to eat. Shaking the feeling from her mind, the dark feline type digimon began to wander over to the large doors. Her thoughts full of concern for the human boy she had been partnered with, and they weren't the same standard thoughts, they were thoughts of betrayal. "Taichi." He was the first who had treated her with kindness, before that, it had been just her, the master and that other bumbling digimon, all alone in that world, the pain of having to bear the anger of the master whenever he went into a bloodlust, waking up with more cuts and bruises then her favorite scratching post had were becoming an almost become a daily thing for them, and then, the day Myotismon came to the real world it all changed. 

Moving out through the door, the black feline stopped as footsteps echoed through the hallway, jumping into the shadow's she stared at the digimon servant's walking past them, their eyes holding a level of sadness in them, and a deep fear. "He shouldn't be like this." Moving faster down the hallway, she ducked into the bedroom next to her masters, deciding to wait for the pink haired girl to show up. "He's too kind to be evil." Jumping up on the pink bed, she snorted at the color of the sheets and wondered why her partner hadn't given her the same color of sheets he used, instead of this sickening girlish one.

Dropping down on the sheets' the black colored feline closed her eyes and purred silently as the softness of the bed caused her to relax, sending her into a dream land, a dream land of the first time she had met the child her master wanted her to be partnered with, it hadn't been a good meeting, she was still sore after the beating she had received just a day before.

_"Wake up you stupid furball."_

_The foot slammed into her side and sent her flying backwards through the air, only to have it cut off rather harshly as she smacked into the bare walls of the apartment. Her bones protesting agaisnt the treatment as she fell down onto the wooden floor. Fearing the result of not moving fast enough to please her master, the small black cat like digimon shot up into a sitting position, her face trying to hide the pain from the movement. "Yef mafter." Cursing as her mouth still had trouble saying the word correctly, she lifted up a paw to touch the right side of her face, a large welt had formed under the fur and under her mouth, a small crack in her jawbone was still in the process of healing. Unfortunately, it gave her few speaking problems until her jaw had finished healing._

_Shooting a dark look down at the black feline at her troubled speaking, he finally sighed loudly and moved a hand to run it through his purple hair, but instead of completing the movement, he made it stop just as it was pushing up his front bangs, keeping the hand there as if he was suffering form something. "You see the trouble I have with servants, they're just lazy and can't even talk right."_

_Blinking at the words, she frowned, the master hadn't talked to her or the other lug head of a digimon he had been banished with, moving her head, her eyes traveled over to see someone standing in the doorway, a ragged look on his face, the brown hair was hanging down limply around his head and his eyes were staring at her in confusion, snapping out of her trance, she turned around and stared back at her master before he became to angry with her. "Forry mafter."_

_In a rare show of emotion for him, the man reached out a hand and ruffled her fur in a friendly way, but still succeeding in sending a series of sharp points of pain into her, his finger moving across the almost healed cuts on her head and ears, opening them again as his nails cut into them, still, crying out in pain would earn her another beating, and she couldn't afford that. Biting down the pain she felt, she settled for purring, hoping it would make him happy in some way._

_Stopping the petting of his digimon slave and servant, the man turned around to look at the boy behind him, the eyes moving to take in the sight of the boy still lingering at the doorway. "Child, I want you to meet BlackGatomon, from now on, she will be your partner digimon, and together you two will lead the Digi world operations." Leaving no chance for the human boy to protest, he stood up and held out a hand to show that the boy was more then welcome to come in to join them. ""Please, come in, sit down, and I'll bring you your digivice."_

"Hey you?"

Sitting up in a hurry at the shout, Blackgatomon shook her head to chase away the sleep and get ready to defend herself, it wasn't until she found herself looking right into the pink haired girls brown eyes that she remembered where she was. Deciding to act friendly and gain some time, Blackgatomon purred a bit and settled down into a friendly stance to show that she wasn't in the room to fight, her eyes turning to look at both the human girl and the plant type digimon Palmon in a nonchalant manner. "We need to talk." Seeing the distrusting expression on their faces, she almost laughed at the emotion. "Hey relax, I don't want to fight you two, I want you to help me."

Staring even more distrusting at the viral digimon on the bed, both Mimi and Palmon narrowed their eyes some more. "Help you, why?" The rather cold tone they showed just how much they trusted the black feline digimon.

Smirking at the familiar feeling of distrust coming from them, she smiled as she stood up on all fours, her tail twitching as she grinned at them. 

**************

"Help...me."

Stopping at the sound, the small group of Koromon's turned around and stared down into the grass covered forest floor, passing through this area had become dangerous recently, all ready several digimons had gone missing without a trace, still, whoever it was calling for help, really sounded like he needed it. Moving a bit further ahead, the undergrowth of the forest parted to show them who had called out.

Lifting a hand up from the ground, a human boy stared towards the sound that had stopped close to him. "Please...Help me."

One of the Koromons felt sick to the bone at the way the boy looked, his hair was mattered with blood, and his left arms looked broken in several places, but the blue eyes were staring straight at them, even if they had trouble focusing. "Help me."

Taking charge, one of the Koromon jumped over to look closer at the boy, when he notice that the boy seemed to have gotten some kind of help recently, the more dangerous wounds looked like they had been cleaned and he had a bandage wrapped around his head. Turning to look at the rest of the digimons, he nodded at them. "You two, find the group of kids that we saw earlier."

Nodding in response, the two Koromons jumped off to complete their mission. Both of them heading back the way they came as fast as they could. Turning back to the human boy, the lead Koromon jumped closer and stared at the boy. "Who are you?"

Lifting a hand up to feel who and what he was talking too, the human boy finally gave a smile as he could hear the friendliness in the voice of the digimon before him. "Michael... my name... is Michael." Falling a bit further down onto the ground, the boy looked at the digimon with an urgent look on his face. "Please... Help me... Free her..." 

Smiling as he wrapped his ears around the boy in a protective manner, the small in training digimon tried to clam down the boy. Behind him, the remaining Koromon turned to face the other digimons and three humans moving into the area, the eyes of it going wide as it spotted them. "Quick, he needs your help."

Staring in confusion, the group of kids stared form the in training digimon to the badly hurt human on the ground. One of them in fact look the most shocked at what they saw. "Its Michael." Rushing forwards, a girl with short brown haired dropped down to her feet next to him, looking back, she stared at the two boys behind her. "TK, Davis, quick, find something we can move him with."

Nodding and for once having no problems with working, the two boys nodded and began to search for something useful. Returning her attention to the boy, Kari slowly reached down and pushed a blood caked hair lock back form his forehead. "Michael, are you okay?"

Smiling, and coughing up a bit of blood in the process, Michael lifted out a hand to find his partner digimon rushing up to him. "Yes... I'm fine..." Feeling the familiar scaly skin of his digimon, he finally began to relax. "We... will be...fine."

**************

Standing above the burnt out and destroyed village before him, Taichi smiled at the sight of several rookie digimons locked away in cages and hauled up on transport wagon. Their cries of despair a sweet music in his ears. Turning his eyes and attention to the remaining digimon still fighting, he smiled at the sight of a powerful champion digimon defending the small shrine with his life. "Devidramon, destroy him."

Grinning in a sick way, Taichi followed the sight of the insect digimon struggling to keep most of the attacking digimons away, only to fall victim to a Gizimon attacking it from behind, the distraction allowed a Devidramon to slap a hand down onto the insect's type digimons back and press it into the ground as hard as it could.

Letting his own Devidramon land, Taichi jumped down to land in a safe distance from the digimon, his eyes moving to smile at the angry glare he could feel were sent at him from the digimon. Moving closer as he was feeling pretty sure that it couldn't attack, he grinned when he noticed it eyes darken as he came closer, clearly upset over his surprise attack. "Well, one of the legendary digimon's, yes?" Kneeling down to get a better look, he reached out and poked a finger onto the digimon's blue head. "I see you've grown strong enough to remain in your champion form no matter what."

Moving it's head to look closer at the human above it, the digimon tried to push itself free, only to grunt out loudly in pain as more Devidramon's moved over to hold it down. Giving up the struggle, the digimon turned it's head to followed the movements of the human boy walking closer to it. "You, you're a digi destined, other wise you couldn't come here, but you should be helping digimons, not enslave or destroy them." 

Yawning as if the whole speech had been a complete waste on him, Taichi stood up and looked closely at the city shrine before him, the simple statue of a human boy and a Tentomon side by side, and in the boy's hand, a marble replica of. "The legendary digi core, so tell me." Turning to stare directly at the digimon, Taichi walked over and sat down close to him. "Where did you hide the western digi core, my master is very eager to get his hands on it."

Moving his head away, the digimon refused to look at the boy, choosing instead to keep silent and hope that the human boy would give up and walk away, still, he couldn't help but be curious as too what the boy had meant when he said master. Not many knew of the shrines and the objects they held within. "Why should I talk." 

Grinning as if he expected the answer, Taichi stood up and signaled to the many Gazimon's and Monochromon's waiting nearby, some of them locking the last few digimon's away in cages. "Then I'll just have to tear the place apart, and kill of all your digimon friends, one by one." Turning to watch the large champion digimon as it began to struggle again, Taichi let out a cold laugh and nodded to the nearest Gazimon. "Begin with that house over there." Turning to another one, he smiled as his eyes moved over to the nearest cage. "And start with that Biyomon, right there."

Struggling even harder, the digimon slowly began to push off the ground; his anger giving him more strength and power then before as he strained to fight off the many Devidramon's holding him down. "Bastard, what is wrong with you." Getting his front arms free, he reached up and began to strangle the closet Devidramon in a desperate attempt to fight.

Looking back over his shoulder, Taichi stared at the digimon witha bored expression before lifting up his D3 and walked over to look closer a tthe digimon with a glowing look of anger on his face. "Listen, Kabuterimon, you will obey me, do you understand me, you worthless bug?" Getting no response form the digimon, Taichi glared at the digimon and kicked out, smacking his foot right into the underside of the tough head of the digimon to show his anger, before giving a signal to the Devidramon's as he turned around.

Screams of pain filled the air, and drew in the attention of many of the digimons around the scene from both the trapped digimon and the servants and soldiers in his army. Lying in the center of it all, the legendary Kabutarimon that fought against the darkness so long ago was bleeding from several wounds, his head and arms moving around in pain, well the arms that hadn't been broken yet were.

Looking at the rookie digimons as another one of the bug digimon's arms were broken, Taichi looked straight into the shocked eyes of a scared Biyomon, the eyes of the bird type digimon moving away from the carnage to stare right into Taichi's. Smiling as he walked closer to the cage in a slow pace, the messy haired boy lifted up the key to the cage for all of the digimosn to see. "Tell me, and not only will I spare you from suffering the same treatment, I'll even let you and one other of your friends out of the bird cage, so to speak."

Looking between the carnage and the dying champion digimon and protector of the village, the Biyomon closed it's eyes as the Devidramons turned to stare at the caged up digimons around them. "I'll tell you, just don't hurt anyone anymore." Moving a wing up, the bird like digimon pointed towards the shrine and sighed. "The thing you're looking for is buried under the statue, that's where the real shrine is hidden." 

Looking at the statue with new interest, Taichi nodded as it became clear the area around it was much too big for just a simple statue of some long forgotten moldy brat. Lifting up the key and opening the door to the prison wagon, he stepped aside to allow the Biyomon and one other digimon out, the two of them staring around the remains of their village with big scared eyes. "Wonderful, and now." Snapping his fingers, Taichi grinned as both of the digimons gave a scream of terror as iron chains was attached to each of them, and a shovel and pick axe was dumped down on the ground near them. "Now that you're out of the cage, start digging."

Gaping at the human with big eyes, the Biyomon looked down at the shovel in her hands with an angry glare, her feathers starting to stand up from the sheer power she had running through her. "If you think I'll help you destroy what's left of my village, you're crazy." While her words were full of defiance, her attitude and eyes showed something else.

Sighing as if he the mere idea of her protest was too much for him, Taichi turned around and looked up at one of the hovering digimon's above him, his eyes taking on a sinister glint as he watched the hungry look of its face as watched the Biyomon. "Well, if you don't want to work, then you'll just have to die." Snapping his finger, Taichi ignored the brief scream of pain coming from behind him as the flying champion digimon assulted and killed the bird type digimon before it could even try to defen itself.

Waiting until the fact that he had just killed off a defenceless digimon with no care, Taichi moved his eyes from each of the cages containing the few prisoners taken in the village, never stopping long enough on one of them to even show his emotions. "Now, those of you who want too, can help dig up the shrine, those that won't will meet the same fate as the bird." Standing still and watching as the words sank into the rookie digimon's heads, the light of hopelessness lighting up in every one of them. Taichi smiled as he saw them turn slowly to look back at him nervously. "Now, who wants to help dig up the shrine?" The sudden cry of  "me" caused him to nearly laugh out loud.

Walking calmly away as the Gazimon's began to hand out shovels and pick axes, he took a deep breath of air and looked up at the blue sky above him, it was strange to be standing here in the middle of a world made of computer data, commanding an army of evil digimon's to do his every whim, but it also felt so good. Sitting down on the provide chair under the only shade he could find the city, Taichi stared at the mass of digimon still working like crazy before him, the small shrine house he had seen as the first thing, had become a much bigger and more beautiful looking building then before as time passed, the colorful bricks used to make it shine in the sun began to glitter once more as they were cleaned. "Well, look's the first guardians really did a great job in building this place."

Turning his head to the side, he watched as a Gazimon came running straight towards him, the gray ears on it's head flapping in the wind from his speed. "Lord Taichi." Stopping short as soon as he reached over to him, the Gazimon gave a quick salute and turned to point at the ruin with a clawed finger. "We have found the main entrance, my lord." 

Grinning at the news, Taichi pushed himself out of the chair and stood up, his cape choosing that moment to move dramatically in the wind as he gazed at the rather large hole in the ground. Taking the first step, he felt the Gazimon fall in next to him; walking in the same pace and keeping a close look out for trouble. "So, Commander... Slash was it?" Watching as the digimon gave a quick nod, Taichi spotted why the digimon was called that as his eyes fell on a thin line of white fur on the right arm of the digimon, clearly gained from a battle long ago. "Have the object been found inside of it?"

Slash the Gazimon shook his head as he moved to make sure the latter leading down into the hole was clear, turned back and stepped aside to let Taichi down first. "No sir, but we are currently clearing out the front room of the house, we have also found a secret passage leading up into one of the few buildings in this village." Moving down the latter as soon as the brown haired boy had, Slash followed after his master. "The inner chamber is sealed, and from the engravings we found, it looks like a digivice is need to open it."

Nodding as he stepped up to the hidden parts of the shrine, Taichi shot a concerned look up at the darkening sky above him as his thoughts turned to wonder briefly about his queen and the promise he had given her a few days ago. "Is she mad at me?" Seeing the confused look on the Gazimon's face, Taichi quickly cleared his throat and stepped into the dark interior of the building. "Well, shall we go?"   

Staring into the darkness of the cave, Taichi felt a small chill go down his spine, as if he was standing before something more powerful then himself or any digimon he had ever met in the past, still, he had to get the digi core for his master. "Lead the way." Waiting until the Gazimon had gone ahead, Tai smiled as he followed after Slash.

The inside of the building were just as strange looking as the outside, row after row of digicodes filled the wall, often broken by several engravings of digimon's fighting or working with one another. Sparing just a few glances on them, the messy haired boy followed his Gazimon guide further into the place, the walls turning from the code engraved stone to a brilliantly color blue and white wall, turning away his eyes from the almost glowing stones, he stared up at the towering door before him, made form metal, it had several lines of blue and white running towards it, all of them curving around in a spiral pattern near the center. "This is it?"

Slash stopped and astared form the door to the boy behind him, his eyes drifting from the curious face to the device strapped to his belt, a faint glimmer of light glowing in respose to the eire glow from the door. "Yes sir, we had to stop once we cleared the entrance to this chamber." Stepping back form the door, the Gazimon made space for the human boy to step up.

Walking forward to stoop just before the doorway, Tai looked closer at the Door and spotted the reason why the digimon's had though only a digivice could open it, engraved on the center of the door was a picture of an older looking digivice, clearly it had been the key to unlocking the door, question was if he could unlock the door with his D3, it was after all a different model from the one engraved on the door. "Well, here goes."

Holding up his D3 to the center of the spiral, Tai blinked as a bright, warm light began to flow out from the screen, illumination the room with more light then the door had given off, growing to the point where it blinded everyone inside the chamber. Finally, after a painfully long time, the light began to die out, before shutting down completely.   

Looking up from where he stood, Tai blinked as he found himself staring into a second chamber before him, the spiral part of the metal door were no where to seen. Waving a hand curiously at the opening before stepping through, he took a good hard look around the new chamber he found himself in. "Well, where is it." All there was in here, was more of those dame white and blue lines on a metal background, the only thing that was different was the large statue of the tiger like creature in the center.

Stepping in behind him, Slash stared around the chamber as well, stopping as his eyes spotted something glinting in the mouth of the statue, something that was calling out to him and giving him a sense of awe. "Look over there." Walking over to what he had seen, the digimon looked up to see a rather small round sphere trapped between the tiger's jaws. 

Stepping up behind the digimon, Tai stared at the statue, paying more attention to it then before, it didn't look like any digimon he had seen, he would know if he had. The strange metal mask on the head would be a dead give away. "What digimon is that?" Lifting a hand to run it over the lower jaw of the stone mouth, he stopped and move it down to run a finger over the sphere., the power within it screaming out and sending a tingle through his body at the touch. "I found it, this is what the master wants." Grabbing a better hold of it, Tai began to tuck on the sphere, grunting as it refuse to budge even the slightest bit.

Stepping up to the sphere and statue, Slash the gazimon looked more closely at the sphere. "It's a seal stone." Stepping back, he grunted and looked at his master. "Try using your D3 sir, it might break the seal on it."

Looking at the Gazimon with a cold glare, Taichi grunted and lifted up his D3, holding it close to the stone, nearly dropping it as more light flowed out from it and hit the statue's mouth, with a loud screeching sounds, the jaws opened up and allowed the sphere to fall down into his free hand, the weight of the thing surprising him. "Get the TV set, the master wants this delivered to him right away."

Saluting him before running out of the room, the Gazimon nodded and rushed off. Standing alone in the chamber after his companion had left it, Tai turned around and settled his gaze on the statue and stared at the stone, yet life like eyes of it, even if it was a lifeless statue, he could clearly feel a sense of power emanating from it. The same power as the one he could feel in his hand as the sphere glowed with the same dull light. Shaking his head and chasing away the empty thoughts starting to enter it, he turned when he saw the Gazimon bring in the TV set they had brought with them. 

**************

Glowing brightly, the screen of his computer change from a simple game of solitaire to show Taichi standing in the shrine, the normal uniform covered in dust and grime, but that wasn't what gapped the person sitting in the rooms attention, it was the simple glowing sphere proudly held up by the boy. "You found one."

Moving closer ot the screen, Taichi gave a bow to show his respect before talking, his hand moving the sphere down to lie briefly on the ground before the TV set as he pulled out his D3, picking up the sphere again, the brown haired boy held it in one hand and moved his D3 closer to the TV-screen with the other one. "Yes, it was in Oasis Deen like you told me." Lifting up his D3, Taichi waited for the signal from his master that he could pass over into the real world. 

Taking a few seconds to regain his composure, the master reached out and turned the screen away from him, aiming it towards the empty floor next to him. "Well, bring it to me." Grinning as the screen glowed a bright white again, he rose up from his chair and folded his hands behind his back, staring with no concern at all on the boy lying on the floor. "Welcome back."

Pulling himself up from where he had landed on the wooden floor, and turning around, Taichi blinked as he felt that the uniform he normally wore in the digital world had faded away and left him standing in a blue t-shirt with a yellow star, brown Khaki shorts and a well worn pair of sneakers instead. "Master." Bowing down as soon as he turned to face the older man, Taichi didn't look up as he held out the sphere to the eager hands of his master. "I bring you the first of the holy spheres."   

Reaching out rather fast, the master closed his hand around the rather ordinary sphere, the glow inside of it shrinking at his touch; acting as if it was nothing but pure poison it had come in contact with. "Yes, this is truly one of the Digi cores that those blasted Digital gods used to lock me out with."

Looking a bit more puzzled Taichi stepped back to look out the door into the rest of the apartment, the quietness telling him that the second child infected and transformed by his master wasn't present in the building at the moment. "By the way, where's..." Turning to regard his master, he lifted up a hand to shield his eyes as an intense red light flared up in the otherwise dark room. "What?"

As the light died down, the Master smirked as he reached out and disconnected the now dark and rather rock like sphere from the machine hit had been hooked up too. "It worked." Staring at the digivice with a rather childish glow in his eyes, he moved up his hand and reached out one finger to touch the new addition to it, a thick blue line running from the screen to a simple clear sphere on the back. "It worked, the power of Zhuqaimon is now in my hands, and with it the first seal shall fall." Dark laughter filled the apartment as the Master returned the gray digivice to its place. "Taichi." 

Stepping forward at the command, Taichi dropped down to one knee and bowed his head, showing his complete and utter devotion to the person who had turned and cared for him after Myotismon's attack. "Master, shall I go look for the next one, or add more land to your area?" 

Lifting up his hand to stop the brown haired boy from talking, The Master turned his head to stare down at Taichi, his eyes no longer caring or even indifferent, the only sign of any emotion was a sort of anger burning in them as he sat down. "You have a bigger problem then that." Reaching out and pressing a few buttons on the keyboard, the screen changed to show a badly hurt blond haired boy lying in the forest with a Koromon talking with him. "I thought you said you killed this boy."

Staring at the picture with a look of confusion, Taichi stared at the video footage being played over and over again, the blond hair gave away who it was to him, and the injuries, they could only be from some of the more, darker things he had done. "I don't understand." Looking away with a shaky expression, Taichi stared into the eyes of the Master. "I saw him die, he has to be dead, he didn't respond to any of the pains I inflicted on him."

Glaring at the boy, The Master lifted up a hand and pointed at the picture. "Then fix it, before I lose all respect for you." Watching as Taichi moved over to hold up his digivice, the Master glared at him. "Your only saving grace is the fact that you brought the digivice with you." Turning back to stare at his device again, the master looked at Taichi from the corner of his eyes as he remembered something. "By the way, the next sphere can be found in the tenth sector of the south parts of the digital world, and there's another one in sector 56 to the north, it took some time to get all that information on the precise locations of them, but now that I have it, nothing can stop me."

Smiling in a dark way at the words from his master, Taichi joined in the dark laughter that filled the room. As it died down, he turned more serious as a hand moved down and pulled out his D3 from his belt. "I shall prepare the troops for attacks on those sector's, my master." Not waiting for an answer from his master, Taichi moved closer to the computer, lifting up his digivice and willing the computer to show the nearest gate to his castle. "Digi Port open."  

Looking up to see the brown haired boy fade away from the room, The Master closed his hand around the digivice in his hand, his eyes taking on a distant look. "Such a simpleminded fool, just like the other one." Standing up and moving through the room, he stopped at the doorway and looked back at the still glowing computer screen. "Once I'm back in my world, I won't need them anymore."  

**************

Dropping into his study room after returning from the real world, Taichi almost dropped to his knees and thanked some higher power for the sight of his trusted chair, the light in the room just perfect and the heat the level he liked it. In the last two days he had seen far too much sand and dirt then he ever wanted, still, he had gotten the power from one of the legendary digivice, and he had regained some standing with his master, all in all, a good day.

Or was it, sinking even further down into his chair, Taichi groaned as his mind turned to the one thing he hadn't expected to come so soon, tomorrow, he would have to mount an attack on the digi hospital were this boy, Michael was being treated, it was close to the emperor's domain, the digi destined was bound to be there. "Dammit." For the first time in three years, he would have to see his sister again, and Sora. He wasn't ready to face them, why couldn't that blond haired moron had died like a good little weakling.

Sighing out loud as he sank down into the soft and comforting embrace of his chair, he leaned back to rest his head a bit and to gather his thoughts on finding the next holy sphere and crushing the blond haired boy. Still deep in thought, he blinked as something he hadn't really noticed yet began to seep into his thoughts; the hint that something wasn't right in the room was getting bigger. Paying more attention, he noted that the light in the room was perfect all right, it still has the gloomy feel to it that he had come to appreciate, but there was a subtle undertone to it, like. "Mimi!" Staring at the walls of the room, he screamed out the girl's name as he took in the bright pink color of them, a color that nearly drowned in the otherwise dark room. 

The sudden opening of the door only seconds after his yell drew his attention away from his headache and the pink color off his wall to stare at the girl walking in through the doorway, dressed in a more different and white dress, she had apparently chosen to wear something else besides the pink dress he had gotten for her, behind her, he spotted her digimon partner Palmon and his own partner Blackgatomon walking in. "You're back, well it's about time."

Looking from her to his faithful digimon rushing over to be near him, Tai groaned as he sat back down in his chair, one of his hands going to forehead to try and beat down the migraine forming again, he really didn't want to deal with more problems at that time, his other hand waited a few seconds for her to clam down and pay more attention before he lifted it up to point at the walls around him, his eyes half open to see her reaction. "Explain."

Looking in the direction he had pointed at, Mimi grinned when she noticed the walls and then laughed at the sudden understanding as too why he had sounded so desperate seconds before. "Well, I was getting moody just sitting around waiting for you in this room, so I decide to paint it in a more positive color then black." Her eyes took on an innocent look as she walked up and stood right in front of him. "Tell me, this very important mission of yours, did it succeed." Her voice showing that she didn't care if it had, in fact, her attitude sent off the hint that she wouldn't feel at all, bad if he had failed.

Tai grunted as he looked up at the doorway ceiling above him, grunting as he noticed the same pink color on it as well. "Yes, it was a success." Moving his other hand up, he started rub to rub his forhead in an effort to chase away the migraine pounding through his head mercilessly.  

Frowning as she stepped closer, Mimi stopped walking and looked down at his as she settled into the chair, her eyes looking away from him as she played with the fabric of her dress. "Where were you?" Trying to keep her voice neutral, she grimace as she could see on his face that she hadn't succeeded in it.

Smiling at the impatient note in her voice, Taichi looked up form trying to rid himself of his migraine, his eyes twinkling with the amusement he felt over her slip up. "Well, sound like you missed me, my dear." Reaching out a hand and picking up one of hers, he planted a quick kiss on the back off it. "My queen, I'm sorry that it took so long, but, I ran into some difficulties along the way."

Yanking her hand away from the messy haired boy, Mimi growled as she her cheeks flushed with embarrassment over his antics, behind her, she could feel Palmon glaring at the boy before them. "Stop that, you know why I missed you, and that the only reason." Her eyes glowing with anger at her words, Mimi crossed her arms and turned to glare at the small fire burning in the fireplace. "I won't kill anyone just to feed off them, I'm not a monster like you."

Across from her, Tai managed a few chuckles before the migraine stopped the amusement for him, frowning and holding back a hiss of pain, the messy haired boy sat up calmly and rolled up a sleeve, his pale arm glowing a bit in the dancing light form the fire, staring at it with a trouble look on his face, he could clearly see the rising number of puncture marks on it, the round welts rising angrily up towards him, each of them a reminder of the times she had fed from him, and not someone else. Holding out the hand, Tai grunted as he noticed Palmon's angry glare at him. "Drink, you need it right?" 

Looking up from her silent inspection of the fire, Mimi felt her mouth water against her will, she didn't want to drink the blood, but her body was demanding it, and it was getting better at affecting her. "About time." Huffing a bit in anger to hide her confusion over the way she was feeling at his return, she grimaced as she felt her fangs grow longer and sharper. Then she grabbed the wrist and held it up to her lips, clearly smelling the desert sand and grime on his arms, then she bit into the warm flesh under her hand, getting a feeling of sickness as the blood seeped out from the two new holes in the flash when her fangs was removed, then she closed her mouth around it and took the first sip of the crimson liquid.

Sitting back in the chair and wincing as the drain on his reserves started, Tai fought down the urge to tear his wrist free and settled for staring at the brown haired girl head, watching how the light played with each strand of the caramel colored hair. "Cute." Mumbling the words as he reached out a hand to play with it, he stopped himself and frowned, lowering it back to rest on his chair, his eyes closing as a strange calm overtook him, he simply settled for looking at the girl before him, finally lifting up his free hand as he started to really feel the drain she was putting on him. "Enough." Gently pushing Mimi's head away from his wrist, Tai groaned as the rather heavy loss of his own blood mixed with his headache and loss of sleep for the last two days finally caught up with him, staring up at her as she rose, he smiled and watched as she wiped away the few drops that had missed her mouth. "Feeling better now?"

Smiling in return and turning around, she stared at him before walking over to the door, her eyes moving away from the tired brown haired boy to stare a the black feline hiding in the shadows of the chair, the glowing yellow eyes the only thing she could see, and the promise they had made to one another showing clearly in them. "I'll tell Floramon to have some food sent up to you, as well as some of your "special wine"." Her voice taking on a more distasteful note at the last two words, she turned around to leave.

Waving a hand tiredly at her words, Tai nodded and settled back to find a more comfortable position to sit in as he felt himself grow more and more tired by the minute, still, dinner and some fresh blood sounded good right about now, but still, he had preferred if she had stayed around to dine with him again, but she was right he wasn't the best company right now, and he wouldn't want to make a bad impression on her. "Thank you, Mimi." 

Grinning in her shadow as the pink haired girl and the small Palmon left, Blackgatomon winked to them when they looked over and felt a smile forming when they gave a quick smile back at her. Then she settled down to think about her plan. It was almost in place. They needed just a few more things then they could pull off the plan to save the boy she had grown to like. Soon, she would be able to pay him back for saving her from the Master's wrath, and showing her that kindness did really exist, she needed just a bit more time for it to work.

**************

"WHAT!"

Izzy blinked at the sound level, and considered putting in earplugs before he continued to tell the other kids what he had found out just moments ago, already Sora Matt and at least three of the new digi destined group had returned to the small computer lap as fast as they could. In one corner, Davis and TK were glaring hole in one another and the fact sent a few chills down the computer wiz's back, those two could become a problem if they didn't put their differences aside real quick. Then he refocused on the group gathered in the room, more precisely the two looming kids standing over him. "They found Michael, Miyako and Kari are with him now, Davis and TK are looking around the place where he was found and Cody is on his way back here with more information." 

Clenching his digivice tightly, Matt nearly felt like strangling Izzy in order to get more information out of him, the knowledge that one of the missing person's had turned up was enough to get his spirits up a bit, now if only it had been Mimi they had found, then he would have been completely happy at least. Still, if Michael had been found, then he might know where Mimi was. "Where are they, I'm going over there now, he might know where Mimi is."

Izzy sighed as he pushed back from the table and stared at the blond haired boy with a frown on his face, his eyes showing just how concerned he was over the whole matter. "Matt." The tone of his voice caused the blond haired boy to instantly refocus his attention on the red haired computer wiz. "They did tell me something important, that you should know, and the rest of the digi destined as well."

Still holding his digivice, Matt stared at the brooding red head and silently swore, ever since the first time in the digital world, he could tell when the red head was serious about something, and this was one of those times. "What is it, do we know who took her?" Waving a hand impatiently around to show his displeasure at just sitting around waiting, he failed to noticed the strained look in Izzy eyes as he looked up from the floor.

Taking a deep breath, Izzy tried to come up with a good way to put it, while he hadn't gotten a name or description from the blond haired American, they had gotten something from him, and it wasn't a good thing in the least. "Matt, its not a digimon this time, it a kid doing this, and it's not Ken, we know that by now." Seeing the words sink into the mind of the blond haired kid with the same effect as if he had been hit with a baseball bat, Izzy continued speaking as he looked away again. "Someone our age badly hurt Michael to the point of nearly killing him, it a miracle he's still alive. And he still has Mimi, and if Michael's story is true, I don't think we can expect her to be alive anymore."

Staring right through Izzy at the last sentence from the red head, Matt felt his digivice fall to the ground, Mimi, not alive anymore, the idea itself was a laugh to say the least, of course she was still alive, and may some God or Goddess take pity on the bastard who had kidnapped her and Michael if she wasn't. "Who is it Izzy, who's the one doing this?"

"I don't know." Staring right ahead just like Matt, the red haired kid, the holder of the crest of Knowledge felt as helpless as when he had first found himself in the digital world. "I simply don't know."

TBC: A fight, a memory and a dream.

AN: Well, another chapter finish, and it only took three rewrites and several hours spent cursing the fact that I couldn't get the plot to work, but after a talk with a friend, I began to try out some other ideas for it. Now, this part may come off as confusing and rather hacked compared to the other ones, but that is mostly due to the fact that I reused some of the older ideas and tired to work them into the new ones with as little trouble as I could.

And for all you waiting for the next part of "A Lone Digi Destined" stay calm, it's currently 60-70% complete. So expect it to be up in a week or two.

Now, hit that button down there to review it. Tell me your opinion so I might feel compelled to write a new chapter and clear up this mess. I also except fanart for it.


	5. Part V

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Summery: AU, very AU and dark, with mentioning of torture, violence and blood drinking. Things begin to pick up as Tai begins to look for the objects wanted by his master, the rest of the Digi Destined are stressed in their search for Mimi and fighting the evil Digimon Kaiser at the same time.

                                                       =============================

                                                           Spawn of the vampire

                                                                  Part V

                                                       A fight, a memory and a dream

                                                       =============================

It was always the same way it started, this nightmare he had for the last week._ The wind blowing through his hair and urging him to continue move no matter what came in the way of him, dead or alive, where he was going he didn't know, all he knew was that he needed to get there, it was important in some way, he couldn't be distracted by them. They were beneath him, they were as important as the stuff he would wipe from his boots after stepping in it. "I'm the ruler of the western realms, and with The Master as the ruler of the whole world, nothing could end our rule." Speaking the words to comfort himself, he stopped when the first speck of laughter began. Turning around to find out where it came from so he could put an end to it, he stopped, finding himself standing in the very place he had never wanted to see again, the place where his human weakness had showed itself for the first time, the laughter growing bigger as he took a step back from the shock of it all. "I told you too shut UP!!" Screaming out the words, Tai turned his head, only to feel someone push him harshly, the movement sending him forward and right down onto the ground._

_"You will die for that!" Screaming once more, Tai turned his head and stopped when he noticed the person towering up over him, the blond hair dancing in the wind along with the cape, the pale face showing no mercy as it pulled back a hand to hit him with, just like he had all those years, seconds before he killed him. "No, you're dead, the Master told me you died!" Tai screamed out as he backed away from the ground in front of the digimon._

_"You mean, like you killed me?"_

_Turning his head around at the voice, Tai screamed for a third time, but this time, it was a command or a curse, it was a just a scream of pure terror as he saw the ghost looking at him with anger and hate. The blond hair falling down the sides of the eyeless head as a dark cold laughter came form the mouth of it. "No, you're dead as well, you can't be here." Tai mumbled as he once again began to back away._

_"He's dead alright, just like us."_

_"Kari?" Tai spoke as he whipped his head around, expecting to see his sister smile at him, to help him understand that it was just a freak nightmare, that no one could even think of scaring or hurting him, he was after all, one of the most powerful creature sin the digital and real world. Then his smile fell as he saw his sister and her friends standing there, each of them looking just as dead as the blond haired boy._

_"You killed us, along with so many others, you're a killer, a monster, a... You're not my brother anymore!!" A bitter and cold sound filled the air as Ghost Kari began to cry into her bone like hands. _

_Turning away from the crying ghost of his sister in fear, Tai chocked back a scream at the sight of the countless digimons hovering around him, their eyes nothing more then empty holes and their bodies torn and bloody from his daily torment of them. Stepping back a bit in pure terror, he felt sick as he spotted several of them staring at him in an almost non caring way, as they began to reach out for him with bloody hands, sickles, tentacles or what they had instead of hands. "No, stay back, stay away from me." Stumbling back, he felt himself fall over something on the ground, the object, a body as he could see when he landed on the ground, had him screaming in a endless manner, his lungs hurting when he started to run out of air, a pain he ignored as he saw her lying there, the long light brown hair spilling out around her face and shoulders in several bloody locks, her eyes which had been so full of sincerity were now dark and full of pain, the pain of her final moment before he killed her._

"NOooooooooooooo!!" Sitting up in the chair, he felt his heart pound away at a million km's a second, the sweat on his forehead having coated his hair to it, and making him shiver in the damp clothes he was wearing. Pushing himself out of the chair, he stumbled through the room and stared into the early morning, the cloud barely showing any signs of the light that would soon fill the sky. "What's wrong with me?" Meeting him in the glass window, was a reflection of his face, the signs of stress showing clearly as he hadn't gotten the rest he had hoped for lately. "Stupid dreams, why are they brothering me." Letting his head fall forward, he sighed as he felt the cold glass impact with his forehead, the cold numbing the flesh and helping him to think clear. "Why am I think of her, why do I even care, she's just someone I desired nothing more, so why would her death trouble me like this?" Eyes staring into the horizon as he fell silent, he blinked when he spotted a small dark spot growing large, the form becoming clearer for each second that passed. "Her." Turning around in a rush, he grabbed his shirt from the floor, slipping into it in haste and ignoring the wrinkles on it.  

In another part of the castle, the lack of restful sleep was shared by the unwilling house guest as she was sitting up in her bed, her own hair damp with sweat as her breathing came in ragged gasps. One hand over to where her heart was in her chest, as if trying to keep it inside her body. "What was that?" Her eyes closing as the memory of the laughter rang through her mind, the voices mocking her, pressing her down under the water, she shuddered as she saw the lifeless eyes in the messy haired boy face, sure she disliked him and hated what he had done, but... did she really wish for him to die. "Do I really, want that?"

"Huh, what are you mumbling about Mimi?"

Turning to her side, Mimi looked at a sleepy Palmon sitting up from her side of the bed. "It was nothing." Trying to control her voice, Mimi looked away from her partner, ignoring the concern in the insect like eye as it filled her with a small amount of fear, and turned her head away, choosing instead to look out through the window and up at the dawning morning sky. "Nothing at all."

Nodding in response, but not completely convince of Mimi telling the truth, Palmon returned to her sleep, the soft sound of her breathing soon filling the room again and giving Mimi as small measure of comfort.

Pulling back her blanket and slipping out of the bed, the brown haired girl looked around the room with a resigned expression as she spotted the same things that had greeted her every morning for what, a month now. "Has it already, been that long?" Stepping over to the window and gazing out of it, she stared at the fog-covered forest below the castle and cliff. "I... I wonder if they have forgotten me."

Staring out the window, she suddenly stepped back in shock as a large shadow moved over the castle. "A Digimon?" Looking closer, she could see that it was a digimon now, or to be more precise, a bird type digimon, fairly large as well. "Birddramon." The shape was the same as Sora's digimon partner's champion form, but... something didn't feel right about it.

Watching it land in the courtyard, she shook her head and crawled over to stare out the window, blinking in confusion as a person jumped off the left leg of the digimon and turned to stare up at it for a few seconds while the digimon glowed bright white and shrunk down to much smaller form. 

Stepping back from the window as the person turned to stare up at it, Mimi felt her heart beat a bit slower, it had been close, wile she was a high ranking guest at the castle, she didn't want to be seen by other people in this place. Tai could be avoided and he had often understood when she wanted to be alone by her body langue and kept clear of her at those times, even if he would then send Blackgatomon to spy on her. 

Staring around the room, the girl sighed as she walked towards the door, pushing a brown hair lock out of her eyes, a simple thought drifting through her head as she did one that had her giggle a bit. "I can't believe I'm thinking off getting some more hair dye at a time like this" Fingering the hair lock, she grinned and shook her head, it had been far too long since she had last thought of something so simple that it somehow felt good, even at a time when it should the last thing on her mind.

Stopping her giggling and pacing, the brown haired girl turned to stare at the door, the sound of footsteps growing louder with each second, only to stop as the person stood near her room. "Tai?" t was a small mumble to her, but she felt her heart beat a bit faster when hurried steps could be heard heading towards her door again.  

"Motomiya?"

"Yagami."

Stepping closer to the door, Mimi leaned in and strained her ears to hear them. The name Tai had just used, it had sounded so familiar to her, where was it that she had heard it before. 

"What are you doing her Motomiya? Did the Master send you to check up on me?"

"No Yagami, I'm here on my own, I've just been to File Island." A silence fell over the corridor after that.

"Did you find it there?"

"Yes and No?" Motomiya seemed to be hesitating at that point Mimi noted as she tried to find a better place to listen in on them. "I found the shrine like I should have, but the Core had been removed about four years ago."

"Around Devimon's time." Mimi blinked as she heard Tai hiss out the name, had he had some trouble with a Devimon before. "I found the Core of the West." Tai seemed to hesitate as he said it, but Mimi was more concerned with this Core of the west and east stuff. "Something didn't feel right when I took it."

"Like you were stealing from a friend." Motomiya added as she stared around the room. "I felt it too, when I forced my way into the temple."

"Did you find any clues as too where it had been taken?"

"No, all I found inside was a lot of inscriptions and a Statue of a dragon type digimon."

"Funny, in the west, it was a Tiger like statue that held the core."

Mimi slowly backed away from the door as she heard Tai and that new person walk away, their footsteps echoing in the hallway outside. "Digi Cores, statues?" Turning to face the bed and window, Mimi sighed as she began to pace the room again. "This is getting too wierd, first someone who should be dead kidnaps me and turns me into some kind of vampire freak, next he out stealing the digi cores, whatever they are." Stopping, She lifted a hand to touch her forhead. "Where's Izzy when you need him."

Sitting down on her bed, Mimi continued to try and make sense of what she had heard, the answers refusing to come as easily to her as she had hoped they would. In the end, she could only lay back and wondered over one thing that had slowly started to trouble her more and more in the last few minutes, who was the Motomiya girl with Tai, and why did they sound so much like old time friends.

***************

In another part of the digital world, light began to seep in through a window as well, hitting each member of the group sleeping there as well, causing them to blink and yawn as they found it hard to escape from the glare. Pushing back his chair and looking up the white ceiling above him, Davis yawned loudly as he began the process of waking up. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he spotted the group's digimon's sleeping in the corner, and then he spotted Yolie lying on the second bed in the room along with Kari.

Kari, Davis thought slowly as he simply stared at her, the small girl he had met all those years ago had grown up and become even better looking then back then, but even if she had changed a bit, the things he liked about her hadn't changed, she was still a caring and friendly person, despite that day four years ago. Eyes narrowing, Davis slammed a hand down on his chair, his thoughts turning to the day he had learned his sister had been missing since the digimon take over as well.

"Davis, is it morning already?"

Looking up from his dark thoughts, Davis gave a small grin when he noticed Yolie staring around the room with a half dead look while she spoke to him. Slipping out of the chair at the sight, he walked up and placed a hand on the back of her chair. "Yeah, so how is he doing, any better?"

The boy in question was still asleep, several bandages covering his arms, the blond hair looking better after it had gotten the dirt and other stuff washed out of it. But despite the treatment, and help, he had still to wake up. 

Stretching her arms and back, Yolie let out a yawn as she pushed her chair back and stood up, her purple hair falling in a messy wave down her back and side. "He seems to be better, but I would rather want one of the doctors to tell us." Staring around the room, she walked over to the door and opened it. "I'm going too take a bath, why don't you try and see if you can find us anything to eat."

Nodding, Davis stood up and walked through the room, his eyes going over the various items there, and the still sleeping forms of his friends. "First Ken, and now this, geez, when did the world decide to go this crazy on me." Pushing open the door and stepping out thought it, Davis shook his head over the comment, the world may have gone crazy without them knowing about it, but he wouldn't trade it in for anything else.

***************

It was well past noon when he saw Motomiya fly off with her digimon, her tight back dress and scarf flapping in the wind as she began to move eastward, back towards File Island. It had been a long talk, and several things had been shared but nothing had come up that could help them, all he had was a somewhat fixed location on where the next Digi Core could be found, but it too could have been moved in the last four years and most likely had since his raid on the first shrine, surely rumors would have spread to their guardians by now.

Stepping back into the castle, he cast a look at the nearest group of digimons working nearby, their hands or paws moving a bit faster when they notice his glare. "I want that finished before sun down." Ignoring their shocked glances at him, he stepped into the comforting darkness of his castle, his step echoing throughout the main lobby. "Soulmon!" 

The floor in front of him shimmered for a second after his call, and then a Bakemon wearing a large top hat rose from the floor. The head turning to face Tai as it had finally moved through the floor. "You called Lord Taichi!"

Tai nodded as he began to walk down the corridor to the left, Soulmon following him every step of the way. "Soulmon, I want you to gather the rest of my Elite Warriors, I have a small problems that needs to be dealt with." Stopping as he reached the staircase leading up, he cast a dark look at Soulmon. "Tell them, I will accept no excuse for not showing up, this is the orders of me and the Great Master himself."

Walking up the stairs, Tai ignored the question look from Soulmon, his thoughts moving back to the recent dreams troubling him and what they could mean. "I care for her, that much it has shown me." Pushing open the door at the top of the stairs, Tai ignored the shocked gasp and few terror filled sounds from the digimon inside the room as he entered.  

FLoramon, the new leader of the more everyday related work force looked up from her design of a new dress for the Dark Queen when her master had stepped in. "Lord Taichi, what is your wish?" 

Staring over at her, Tai gave a weak smile and walked up to look at the Floramon, his hand moving out to trace the dress on the table. "I want you to make my queen... some more travel suited clothes." His eyes going a bit distant, Tai grinned as he turned around. "I have gotten orders to head for the northern outpost, and I want her to come with me."

Floramon nodded as she began to pull out the stuff needed to design and make the new clothes, her thoughts moving to who would be in control of the place in the meantime. "Lord Taichi, if I may... how many outfits do you request?"

Staring back at her, Tai shrugged as he hadn't really though about it. "I think, four or five would be in order, I don't plan on spending much time up there, but it could drag out a bit." Eyes turning a bit distant again, Tai sudden nodded to himself, as he looked at the digimon before him. "Floramon, when you finished with the outfits, I want you to prepare to travel with me as well, it would be good to have an experienced servant along."

"As you wish lord Taichi." Floramon said as she returned to her work.

Turning around and walking through the room, Tai settled his hand on the doorway and looked back, the various digimon working in the room not daring to look back. "What is it?" The words were mumbled out as Tai lifted a hand to feel his chest, his heart, it had beaten a bit differently, as if it protested the fact that he was using digimons as slaves and servants. "Foolish." Muttering the last word, he left the room and headed for his study, he needed to think about things.

Passing Mimi and Palmon on their way to the garden, he only gave a short greeting to which the girl who been troubling his dreams recently huffed at in an insulted way. Stopping and looking back at her, he held out a hand and softly cupped her face. "I'm sorry Mimi, I've been a bit distracted lately, why don't we share a meal together in the study later?"

The brown haired girl seemed to debate over it a bit, her eyes moving from him to her partner digimon a few times before she finally answered him. "Sure." Stepping back from him, she gave a small smile when she noticed the pout he had on his face when his hand had lost contact with her chin, something that looked rather funny as he stood there dressed in his uniform. "I'll meet you later, Taichi."

Walking down the corridor, she could almost feel his gaze on her, the feeling leaving her a bit confused as too how she feel about it, then she pushed it away as she stepped out into the garden outside, the flowers and plants always serving to relax her no matter what. "Palmon, do you think, BlackGatomon's plan will work?"

The plant digimon looked up at Mimi as she shrugged, her trust n the small feline digimon not that strong at all. "I don't know, she seems to care about him, and truly wishes the best for him." Palmon became silent as she turned to look up at the sky. "But it could also be a way to fool us, and make us look un-trust worthy in his eyes."

Mimi sighed as she sat down on the bench nearby, her hands moving out to caress a nearby flower with a gentle hand. "Palmon, about Tai, do you also get the feeling that he's changing lately?"

Feeling his cape move with him, Tai turned around to the desk drawer before him, ignoring the sight of Mimi and Palmon talking outside in the garden. Opening it and staring at the digivice inside of it, he felt an old feeling stir inside of him, something dark and fearful, it was an inferior device when compared to his own, an outdated model, yet it also represented his own weaknesses from so long ago, they had gotten one and the job to save the world, but not him, he had been left to suffer that digimons wrath when they hadn't shown up to save him, the only one who had cared enough to help, had been the Master. Slamming the desk shut, he turned the key around and smiled. She would only get it back when he was sure he could trust her completely, until then, it stayed there out of her reach. "BlackGatomon!"

Looking up, the feline digimon stared at him with a curious expression, her face slightly troubled by the in different tone in his voice, it was so similar to the one her former Master had used before he had beaten her. "Yes, Taichi?" Asking in the most friendly and obedient tone, she hoped that he wasn't about to become a new master.

Turning around and staring down at the black colored feline, he lifted up his D3, the map program running on it and showing a green or near the center as it picked up Mimi digivice. "I'm leaving, while I'm gone I want you to keep an eye on things and my Queen as well." Stepping out of the room, he smirked when he felt his digimon partner following him, staying a good deal behind him like any pet would. "I won't be back until late night or sometime tomorrow."

Eyes puzzled, the cat digimon stared at the back of her partner, a hundred thoughts flowing through her mind in a single second, but only one of them really mattered. "Where you going, out to find another Digi Core?" Her voice held a lot of curiosity, over the sudden change in his behavior.

Smirking, Tai lifted up his black orange D3, a pale dark light starting to glow around it as the corridor opened up into a large outdoor courtyard, a Demidramon already saddled and ready for him. "I'm going to finish something I left undone." Jumping up on the back, he grinned as he the devil dragon began to fly off. "Keep an eye on Mimi for me while I'm gone."

BlackGatomon nodded and turned to carry out his order, stopping only long enough to look back over her shoulder and up at the rapidly fading sight of the Devidramon and it's passenger. "What's wrong with you, Tai?"

***************

"Are you sure about it my dear?" The masters voice mumbled as he tapped a finger on the table, his eyes narrowed in anger as he counted each stroke, the sound offering at small distraction to drive away at least some of his anger. "It could be a small side effect of prolonged stay in the digital world after all." 

Motomiya shook her head as she looked through her laptop's video link and into the shadowed face of the master, his eyes the only thing she could see clearly in the darkness. "No, he's showing signs of it, they're small and hard to notice, but they're there." Voice turning dark and cold as she spoke, Motomiya settled down a bit. "He's less prone to anger outburst, and traces of his old personality are showing up, most of them when he was dealing with that flea bag of a partner you gave him."

"Thank you, My dear, I appreciate you're report on things, keep an eye on him and make sure you find that core understand." Turning off the video link, the Master grumbled as he stared at the screen with impatient eyes, his fingers curled up like claws ready to strike out and kill something, mainly the black colored feline digimon. "That blasted flea bag sensed it, yet she has done nothing to stop it, or taken means to prevent it." Looking away from the screen, his eyes fell on the device next to him and the glowing light on it. "I need him to be cruel, evil and destructive to carry out the plan, I want that blasted shield down so I can reopen my gate." 

Standing up and rubbing his chin as he did so, he walked out through the door and sighed at the sight of the world outside his windows, the endless rows of concrete and glass buildings. "Such an inferior world, true power doesn't exist here, only a symbolic one in that blasted stuff they call money." Laughing a bit, the Master lifted up a hand to rub his chin. "I supposed, I could show them what true power is, when I have gotten my revenge." Eyes narrowing, he removed the hand from his chin and watched it. "That's if I get back."

Slamming a hand onto the wall, he grumbled as he looked down at the floor. "Damn them, I'm so close to getting back." The words held an icy tone of hate as he spoke them, as if everything else didn't matter but that. "And when I do, they will regret banishing me to this worthless world." Eyes turning cold and hard like ice, the Master's smile become a tight, drawn one as he tapped a finger on the table. "But now, who would have thought the brat would feel something for someone else with the hold I got on him, even the small recharge he got from me doing his last visit hasn't been enough to beat the hold they have on him." Turning back to look at the computer standing in the other room, screen still glowing with a static light, the image of the castle changing slowly as it followed BlackGatomon trough the corridors, he gave a dark smile. "She and the human girl are weakening my grip, and the virus as well. How did the brat think he could change her like that, his body is just infected by it, I hold the reproductive part of it, that which let's me change people, all he did was shared his part of the virus with her, too much for it to control him without my presence to strengthen it." 

Walking back into the room, his hands reached out for the computer mouse while the other one pushed the chair backwards. "They will have to be dealt with, both of them." Clicking on a small button on his program screen, the Master eyes twinkled as a special sup menu popped up on screen. "Yes, there had been enough data generated overnight, now, let's see, who my imitation digimon shall copy for this mission."

Hitting another button, a Digi card set complete with stats for the various digimon popped up on screen. "No, not him, or them." Mumbling to himself as he scrolled down the side and looked at each of the names on it, he suddenly grinned when he spotted a familiar name on the list. "Yes, this one." Clicking on the card and dragging it over to the other program, he grinned as the card vanished from the screen, only to have a 3D image of it pop up in the other program. "Now, go my little digimon and carry out your mission." Mumbling the words, he quickly set the commands for it to upload the chosen digimon into the Digital World.

Fading into to view in the castles courth yard, the digimon started of looking like a fuzzy TV screen at first, several different colored of light moving over it before it became completely solid and gained it's true colors. Lifting its head, the white dull eyes, a side effect that still hadn't been solved, stared at the building before it. The Target it needed to destroy was inside that place and that was all it cared about. Spreading out its wings, the digimon lifted off the ground and began to fly towards main part of the building.

On the other side of the main part of the castle, Mimi looked up as a chill passed through her all of a sudden. Turning her head left and right trying to locate what had caused it, she stopped when she spotted the familiar outline of a feline digimon hiding under the rose bushes. "Come out BlackGatomon, I know you're there."

Giving a loud hiss of defeat, BlackGatomon stepped out from her hiding place slowly, moving over to stare up at Mimi with a strange glint in her eyes. "Tell me, are you still in on it?" Voice almost non caring as she asked, the black feline stared at a nearby rosebush while licking her front paw and glove. 

Settling back and relaxing a bit, Mimi closed her eyes and took a small joy from the sunlight hitting her. "I don't know, he changing lately, he's getting more aggressive and cold." Voice wavering a bit, she looked to the side through a half open eye to see BlackGatmon's concerned look. "You noticed it as well?"

Nodding, the feline stepped closer, but kept one of her eyes on the plant digimon nearby, it insect eyes showing just how little Palmon trusted her. "I don't know why, but it started shortly after his return from the Master, he must be a part of this." The last bit was hissed out as BlackGatmon's ears began to move a bit. "Wait, someone's here."

At those words, a lord cry filled the air as a large bird like digimon moved around the main tower of the castle in a slow turn, the eyes of the digimon turning to look down at the ground in search of something, the fiery orange body catching the sun light and sending a small shadow down over the digimons on the ground.

"Birddramon?" Mimi mumbled as she stood up, her hopes rising for each second she saw the large fiery bird digimon in the sky. "But, where's Sora?" The last was added as she failed to see her friend near the digimon at all. "And the others?"

Spotting the girl and two digimon in the garden, the bird digimon began a slow dive towards them, the white eyes turning to focus completely on it's target. "Meteor Wing!" Folding it's wings together before opening them and firing off the fireballs.

Ducking out of the way with BlackGatomon, Mimi let out a shriek as she felt Palmon's vines snag around her and pull her to safety. "What's she doing!" Yelling out her concern and puzzlement, Mimi felt BlackGatomon struggled to get free from her grip on it. "Stop struggling, we need to come up with a way to get her back to normal."

Twisting her head around, Blackgatomon hissed as she clawed Mimi's hand, landing on the ground with a burning hate in her eyes. "Follow me, I can't fight her, but you can." Rushing in through the door, she felt and heard Mimi and Palmon running after her. "I know where Tai has hidden your digivice, I will give it back to you, but only if you stick to your promise of not hurting him."

"I can't Birdbramon, she's my friend." Mimi yelled as they moved up a flight of stair, past the shocked Bakemon guards rushing around the place in a panic. "Didn't you hear me, I can't fight her?" Mimi yelled as she finally reached BlackGatomon as the feline shattered the door into the study. "BlackGatomon!"

Looking back at Mimi as she let out a loud hiss, Baclkatomon felt her tail puff up in anger, her claws digging into the floor as she moved towards Mimi in a slow pace. "That thing out there is not your friend, it's not even a real digimon, I saw the master experiment with it back on Earth, he calls it Imitamon because it has the power imitate any digimon based on how much power it has been given before uploading." Turning to the desk, Blackgatomon tensed and shot up towards it, her clawed glove slashing out as fast as they could. "Cat's paw!" Tearing through the wood. "The master must know the same as I do, that by turning you into a vampire like him, Tai has weaken the virus in him, allowing more of his human nature to come out, and that if you die, the virus in you will return to Tai, bringing him completely back into the darkness and the master's control again."

Mimi, still a bit shocked from the sudden attack and what BlackGatomon had just told, barely had time to react as her digivice was tossed at her, the device catching her attention in the last second as she struggled to hold onto it. "So... Why are you?" She slowly asked as she felt the familiarity of the beeping sound and light coming from her digivice. 

"Your digimon can digivolve, and fight with your help." BlackGatomon said as she jumped over to the door and stared back over her shoulder and into Mimi's eyes with a harsh and experienced look on her face. Her gloved paws itching to get out of the room and see what damage the master latest pat had done to the castle. "Well, what are you waiting for, we still need to get up to the top of the castle. 

Giving an unsure nod in reply, Mimi turned to look down at Palmon. "Are you ready as well."

"Of course." Came Palmon's reply as she rushed out the door with Mimi right behind her, and BlackGatomon running in front of them. 

***************

"Have we contacted him?" Tai asked out loud as he looked down at his small communication device, the cold surface feeling somewhat comforting to him as he allowed himself to relax a bit. Under him, the large Devidramon grunted a bit as it smuggled to fly in the growing storm they were entering. "I expect him and his team of hunters to be there."

"Master Taichi" Came a faint and barely heard reply from his digivice. "Everything is as you wished, Lord Masuyamon is waiting at the edge of the town for your signal to attack." 

"Very well, when this over, we can return to searching for the rest of the Digi Cores" Tai added as he removed the device and settled in for a wait, already thinking of how he should go about finishing off the blond haired brat, and remove the Digi destined from the battle in the best way. "Masuyamon have better now screw this up, cause if he do, I'll feed him to the Vilemon's myself."

Closing his eyes and trying to calm down, Tai shook his head as a brief flash of a rooftop filled his mind, a strong choke hold on his throat, the vision enough to force his eyes open and see the world in front of him, the widespread flat area with a tree here and there, and the completely dark sky above that had begun to rain down the large cold water drops at last. "Such a fitting weather." Taichi mumbled as he pulled his in a bit closer. "It really, seems like a fitting scene for a battle like this." 

Still staring out into the darkness cause by the rain storm, Tai blinked his eyes when the first loud beeping sound filled the air as his digivice responded to the presence of another one nearby. "We're almost there, tell Masuyamon and his group to get ready." Tai yelled into his communication device, his eyes looking up ahead and already seeing the outline of the central building of the village. "Son, it will be over and everything, will be back to normal."

Moving ever closer to his target, Tai grinned as he moved a hand over his D3 in an absentminded way, it presence comforting him somewhat in the tense moment, giving him the strength to carry out the final parts of the plan as he needed too. "Just you wait Master, I'll show you that choosing me was the right thing to do." Chuckling to himself, Tai kept his eyes locked on the horizon, and village growing ever bigger in the distance. "Devidramon's, standard attack formation." watching the five devil dragon digimons fall into the formation at his command behind him, Tai resumed watching the city, getting ready to give the signal to attack, for both his air force, and Masuyamon and his hunters.

At the same time, high above him and a bit back, a black shape moved through the air, a pair of eyes watching him intently with a look of pure mockery and contempt as her hair was buffed around by the wind. "That's right Yagami, remove them for me, and in your hour of victory, I shall remove you as well." Laughing loudly, Jun, holding onto her digimon's leg, reached up a hand and pushed back a lock of wet hair from her eyes as they sought out her partners. "Isn't that right, my friend?"

TK, Kari, Yolie and Davis looked up as their digivices signaled the arrival of the mysterious dot they had picked up a minute or so ago moving into their area rapidly, the wind whipping up behind them and giving it all a bit of dramatic flare as they began to see the outline of the approaching digimons, growing bigger and more clear with each passing second. Then they slowed down and hovered in the air before them, six Devidramons, a force that could destroy them if they wanted too.

Then they're eyes were drawn to the central one as a much smaller form became clear, a cape fluttering in the sudden wind that swept through the area, pelting them all with even more rain. "So Digi Brats, we meet at least." A voice spoke as a hand lifted up to push a soaked lock of hair out of a pair of eyes before the figure continued to speak to them. "And I must say, you're just a worthless looking as I imagined you to be."

"Hey" Davis cried out as he stepped forward, one hand clenched tightly around his D3, and the look of murder clear in his eyes at the insult. "Who are you calling worthless you bastard." Spitting back the words, Davis bravely moved forward another step as he pushed his own wet hair away form his forehead. "You should talk, bringing all those digimon's with you, are you really that scared of us."

"Scared?" The word came back in a question manner, then a low chuckled followed it as the person stepped forward, into the faint light at last, showing himself to them or the first time. "I been called a lot, but scared, is a first for me." Looking down at Davis, Tai smirked, as he looked right into the red brown eyes of the boy before him. "Bravery and courage can come in many forms, the courage to carry out a daring plan of attack, the courage to stand up for what you believe in, but one should always try and remember, that courage is worthless without the means to back it up." Tai simply smirked as he finished talking, moving his eyes from one of the Digi destine dot the other, taking in the way they looked and trying to determined how much of a treat they were to him, and smirking even wider as they failed to meet even his lowest expectations.

Kari froze as soon as the person turned his head to look right at her, the brown eyes drawing her in as soon as they hit her own, the overwhelming feeling of familiarity about the person rose even higher when she finally tore her eyes free and saw the rest of him. Despite the darkness and freezing rain having weighed it down, she could still see the similarity between the mop of brown hair on the person and someone she had cried for so long ago, the days she had nearly lost her light. "No...." Whispering out the word, Kari held up a hand to shield her eyes, as she looked closer at the person riding on the Devidramon. The face and body was older then the last time she saw him, four years ago, but still having the same confident and energetic aura around it. "It can't be you?" Kari cried out as she stepped forward, her digivice falling to the ground. 

Looking down on the girl stepping forward, Tai gave a sinister smile as he saw her brown eyes grow wider for each second, as the truth began to sink through to her. "Aww, don't say such things Kari, of course it's me, your big brother." Laughing at the shocked gasps from around him, Tai smiled as he signaled his Devidramon to continue flying, the village hospital looming bigger in the distance. Turning around to face the group looking after him, Tai gave a dark grin as he waved at them. "Well Sis, think you can stop me from finishing what I started."

Following the Devidramon with her eyes as it moved away, Kari felt something she thought had been buried shatter deep within her, leaving her with a bad taste in her mouth. "Tai..." Around her, the other Digi destined stared at her in confusion. "Don't do it brother!" Yelling out the words, Kari had already started to run after him, a few tears of confusion mixing with the rain in her face. "TAI!!"

TBC: Sibling Storm, Kari VS Tai.

AN: Sorry for the long time it took to get this one out, I had a small writers block on this one and "A Lone Digi Destined", as well as several of my others stories, not to mention the fact that I had to do a complete redesign of my website, and update several non digimon stories, but I should be back now, and ready to restart work on my other digimons stories as well. 

But even if I finished the chapter, I still feel like it's a bit cheap in some places and could have been done better.

Anyway, if you have the time, pay my site a visit will ya.

http://www.deminohoyer.com

Write you all in the next chapter,.

Dak.


	6. Part VI

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Summery: AU, very AU and dark, with mentioning of torture, violence and blood drinking. Hunting for Michael to finish what he started, Tai confronted the digi destined and taunted them before making his way towards the village where the blond haired boy currently is. At the same Time, Mimi and BlackGatomon found themselves under attack by some kind of creation the Master sent to kill them.

=============================  
Spawn of the vampire  
Part VI  
Sibling Storm, Kari VS Tai.  
=============================

Tai, stranding on his Devidramon, looked back over his shoulder and smirked when he spotted the younger girl struggling to run after him, the sight making him chuckle as he saw her stumble and nearly fall into some mud on the ground. "Come on Kari, don't tell me you can't go faster then that."

Kari, eyes blazing with hurt and anger over his mockery of her, grabbed her digivice and D-terminal, clicking open the lid and feeling the digimental of light forming before her. "Tai, I don't care what you say, but there's no way I'm going to let you hurt someone anymore. Digi Armor energize!!"

"Gatomon Armor Digivolve too Nefertimon!"

Kari, staring at her partner digimon, grinned as she quickly jumped up onto the back of her armro digimon. "Now, let's go stop my brother." Kari called out as she felt Nerfertimon speed up under her, the wind and rain whipping into her face as they move through the storm, the shape that was Tai and Devidramon growing bigger and bigger with each passing second.

Looking back again, Tai glared as he saw the white form grow large with each passing second, then he returned to look at the village, the building having almost taken on a shape and size where he could count the windows in each of them "Go faster you stupid thing." Yelling out the order, Tai grumbled as he felt the Devidramon struggle to move faster through the air.

"Tai!" Looking back over his shoulder, Tai cursed loudly as he saw his sister and her digimon flying almost on top of them, the face of Nerfertimon showing no emotions as she moved closer still, but his sister told everything. "So much like me back then, but more determined now." He mumbled as he gazed down on the building below him. "Now what Kari, are we going to fight here and now, over these buildings, what about the innocent digimons?"

Kari, eyes flashing with determination looked down at her brother as his Devidramon came to a stop directly over the village. The words ringing through her eyes and making her hesitate, but then again, he had come here to kill, so would it really matter if she didn't fight him. "You're not my brother are you, my brother wouldn't kill someone like this." 

Tai, grinning as he heard her words, smiling as he turned to gaze at the scattered buildings and digimons looking up at him from the inside of them, fear radiating at the thought of what he would do to them. "No, I'm not him, thanks to the Master four years ago, I'm not held back by anything, I will kill that blond haired boy to secure my position in his forces." Tai spat out as he focused on the one place that could hold what he was seeking. 

Kari, seeing her brother grin in a dark fashion turned her gaze and gasped when she saw what he was looking at. The local village hospital rose up form the ground before them, the sight of Michael lying in a room inside of it flashing through her mind as she snapped back to look at her brother "Tai, please don't do it."

Giving his sister an annoyed look, Tai sighed and lifted up a hand to point at the building. "Devidramon, on my command, destroy the hospital."

Kari, hearing the words, clenched her digivice and looked down at Nerfertimon, screamed out in anger as she kicked Nerfertimon in the sides, urging her digimon to fly closer to her brothers Devidramon. An anger burning through like none she had ever felt before, as the person before dared to ruin the image of her thoughtful brother that she had know all those years ago, and had grieved so hard and long for. "You're not my brother, you look like him, but you are not him." 

"Yes I am!" Tai roared out as he whipped his head back to glare at the girl sitting before him on the Nerfertimon, her hand locked around her white and pink D3. The image of her downcast head, the eyes hidden by the wet hair making him freeze as a cold feeling swept through him. "Kari"

***********************

"Palmon, Digivolve to Togemon!!"

Birddramon roared in anger as a sudden light filled the area, the signal of a digivolution in progress nearby. Turning around and aiming for the place where it had come from, the large digimon rushed down to attack it, as the orders given to it demanded. 

On the roof, Mimi cursed the dress she was wearing as she saw the large orange fairy bird aiming down towards them, the killer look in it's eyes sending a shiver down her spine. Next to her, she could feel Togemon take a step forward to protect, as well as BlackGatomon moving into a protective position before her. "Um, can we really defeat that thing, it can fly and we can't?"

Blackgatomon hissed a bit in anger and then looked at her. "I don't know, but it's better then waiting for it to just outright kill us." Turning to face Togemon completely, she sighed as she looked at the cactus like form. "I had hope for a more aggressively type digimon, but I guess this will have to do."

Togemon, glared down at the small feline at her feet and growled as she lifted up a foot. "If you don't shut up, you'll find out just how strong I am."

"Focus you two!" Mimi yelled out as she pointed up at the still dive-bombing Airdramon above them. "That bird is going to reduce us to ash if we don't find a way to beat her." Stopping as soon as she had finished the sentence, Mimi felt a cold run through her at the way she had just considered killing a digimon, something she wouldn't have thought of doing so easily in the past. 

Birddramon gave a loud roar as she stopped in midair, her wings folded up in front of her as several fireballs formed between them. "Meteor Wing!" 

"Mimi!" Togemon and BlackGatomon yelled out as the saw just who the attack was aimed for. Rushing forward, BalckGatomon acted without thinking, plowing into the human's girls side and sending her crashing into the waiting hands of Togemon, then the fireball's struck, sending up bits of rock as the black cat like digimon went flying through the air.

Looking at the feline digimon as it landed on the ground, Mimi blinked as she reached down to scope up the limp body from the ground, a bit of blood was seeping out from the opened mouth when she looked down at the black furred face of the cat like digimon. "You saved me, you didn't like me, but you saved me. Why?" 

"Because..." BlackGatomon mumbled as she lifted up her head, glaring at Birdramon as the digimon flew past the tower and out to circle around for another attack. "I had too... You... Can help him...." Closing her eyes, Blackgatomon started to grow limp in Mimi's arms. "Please...."

"No." Mimi mumbled as she pressed BlackGatomon towards her, feeling the small body in her arms. "I don't know, I want to go home, I want to be free, but... I know he's not like this, he was like me, sort of." Whispering out the words, Mimi closed her eyes as a image of a young boy laughing together with her while watching TV. "We never really talked when we were young, we were too different." Seeing her past self standing with a group of kids, Mimi blinked in shock as she looked down at Tai and Kari sitting in a mud pole while laughing with one another, the rest of the school staring at them with disbelief on their face. Then, she found herself standing with Sora, Kari and the other Digi Destined on a rooftop, seeing the Vampire digimon toss a messy haired body off to the side and down onto the street, hearing the young girl standing in front of them scream out a name as a bright light filled the air.

Then a new image popped up, of the same messy haired boy holding a BlackGatomon in his arms while tending to a small wound on it, the boy ignoring the fact that he was sporting a few cuts himself, ignoring the shadow standing behind him as it lifted up a clenched hand and brought it down with all of it's strenght. "Please, help him, if not for yourself, then for me, and his family." BlackGatomon's voice asked as the images faded away.

Opening her eyes, Mimi glared at Birddramon as she began to dive bomb towards them again. "I will help you BlackGatomon, I promise you."

Togemon, Looking down at Mimi, blinked as a green glow formed arounnd the girl, the power of it seeping into her. "Her crest, but how?" Then she closed her eyes as a pillar of light smacked down onto her from the sky. "Togemon, Digivolve too Lillymon"

Mimi, looking up at the sudden cry, stared in amazement as someone she thought she would never see again hovered in the air above her, the wine like hair and pink dress sending memories back to her of the past, of all the times Lillymon had saved her from harm. "Lillymon, you're back?"

Lillymon, giving a quick wink at Mimi, smiled and turned around in the air, her face tense as she scanned for the attacking digimon. Finding her target, the fairy type digimon slowly lifted up her arms and aimed them at the charging Birdramon as they turned into her flower like cannon, her eyes narrowing as she took aim at it. "You attacked Mimi. You tried to kill her. For that, I will never forgive you, no matter how much you look like my friend, Flower Cannon!!" Sending out the attack, Lillymon followed the ball of green energy as it flew through the air and impacted with the head of the bird like digimon, sending it spiraling back into the air and right into one of the towers, the crumbling walls dragging the bird digimon down with them, as loud cries of pain sounded into the air, ending with a loud screech as a cloud of digital data burst out from between the debris.

Giggling and giving a victory sign down at her partner as Birddramon was defeated, Lillymon suddenly gave a small gasp as she glowed bright yellow and shrunk back down into her rookie form, her insect eyes showing a lot of puzzlement as she cast a worried look at Mimi who was still sitting on the ground in a daze. "What happened? How did I become Lillymon again?"

Mimi, still staring past Lillymon in a more and more scared fashion, slowly lifted up a shaking hand and pointed at something behind Palmon. "You, I've seen you before, back home, you're..."

Turning around, Palmon stared in shock as she spotted a smirking messy haired girl standing on the roof. A dark red feminine uniform slightly similar to Taichi's hugged her body as she began to walk forward. "Seems like I got here just in time." Looking from Plamon over to Mimi, the girl suddenly smirked as she lifted up a hand. "Go for it my servants, take over the castle." Looking down at Mimi, Palmon and BlackGatomon, she gave a dark smirk. "And someone, tie up those fools, they can be used to control the idiot if he refuse to do what I say."

"Queen Motomiya!"

Turning her head to stare at the approaching digimon, Motomiya gave a loud sigh as she noticed the trouble expression on its face as it stropped right in front of her. "What is it Hagurumon?" 

The digimon, looking like a large gear with two smaller ones for arms, looked up at the human girl with a look of pure fear on his face. "The blocking tower." Barely speaking loudly enough, the digimon turned to stare at the smoldering ruins of the collapsed tower. "The Imitamon coping Birddramon broke it when it crashed into it."

Motomiya, glaring at the tower as well, cursed under her breath as she began to understand just what it meant. "The digimon Emperor, can see us now?" Her voice trailed off in a bit of nervous tone, even the rumors of the Emperor's dark reign had reached her, and it was almost on par with the way she and Taichi had been acting. 

Pulling herself together, her eyes flashed as she looked at Hagurumon before her. "Fix it, now, I want this area hidden from him again."

Hagurumon, backing away at the words, covered before the girl in a quick move. "It will take time, the machines are almost completely ruined, not to mention the debris are covering it up."

"Shut up, and get to work." Snapping out her hand, Motomiya's face were red with anger as her whip cracked out and sent the digimon flying backwards, several surrounding digimons turning to face her. "Well, take over the castle idiots, and pout the digimons inside it to work on rebuilding that tower."

Scrambling to get away, the digimons began to storm into the castle, roars and sounds of battles starting up in several places as digimons loyal to either her or Taichi battle for control of the castle. "Dammit, why can't things go my way for once!" Roaring her displeasure to the world, Motomiya stomped up the stairs and into the castle.

***********************

"Wormmon!"

The green worm like digimon looked up at the roar and stared at his partner looking intently at the computer screen before him, his latest project forgotten for the moment as his eyes remained fixed on the map of the digital world. "What is it Ken?"

Glairng back at his worthless digimon partner at the words, Ken growled as he settled back down in his chair, his anger over hearing his name being forgotten in order to concentrate on the new problem that had just come up. "Look at the map of my empire Wormmon." Seeing the digimon do so, the Digimon Emperor stood up again. "Didn't we take control of sector 23B several months ago?"

Wormmon, looked up at his partner human, feeling a bit confused as he stared at the half angry look on Ken's face, a cold feeling running through his veins. "Uh, I think so, why?" 

The Digimon Emperor, ignoring Wormmon slowly walked over to look a bit closer at the map before him. "Because, it just turned white, meaning the control spire had been destroyed."

Wormmon, looking a bit puzzled over the subject, crawled over to stand next to Ken as his eyes slid up to stare at the digital map. "So, the Digi Destiend destroyed another control spire today, it really shouldn't surprise you Ken."

"Shut up." Glaring down at his digimon, The Digimon emperor lifted up a finger and pointed at another square on the map of the digital world. Several squares away form the one they were talking about. "My last scan for the brats, showed them here in sector 78F." Eyes narrowing, the Digimon Emperor continued in a very cold voice. "Do you know what that means?"

"No." Wormmon replied almost at once, his eyes showed just how confused he was at the sudden amount of questions he was getting from the human boy. "It means, that there's other humans or digimons out there, working against me, their rightful ruler."

Covering before Ken as the boy began to shout, Wormmon whimpered at the despair running through him along with the verbal insults that followed the explanation. "So, now what."

The Digimon Emperor calmed down a bit as he saw the scared look in his partners eyes, a small pang of guilt rising in him but fading away rather quickly as he turned around. "We're going to sector 28B, wake up the spare troops and tell them where to go." Sitting down in his chair, the messy haired boy grinned darkly. "I'll teach whoever it is to stay away from my land, be they human or digimon." Eyes narrowing again, the Digimon Emperor began to push the buttons on his control panel again. "And Wormmon, it's either Digimon Emperor, or master you call me, understood."

Backing away at the cold tone, Wormmon gave a quick nod. "Yes Master."

Not looking away from his current masterpiece of a secret project, the Digimon Emperor didn't even notice his digimon partner leave the room. "Good, it's almost finished. I just need a single thing to make it complete, but first, to deal with these new pest."

***********************

Shaking his head and pushing down the sudden rush of feelings running through him, Tai refocused on the building, his hand half way lifted up into the air as he gazed at the lit windows, then he spotted someone looking up at him from the inside of a upper window, a small in-training digimon from the looks of it, nothing more then a simple Koromon but it still sent a shiver through him as well as a new wave of emotions that had him struggling to stand up. "No, I... Must do it."

"Why?" Kari's voice reached him as he felt her presence grow closer, her eyes looking right through his cold demeanor from the back of Nerfertimon still hovering there in the rain, the brown eyes so much like his own borrowing into him. "Why did you do it, this isn't you, you caring, a little rash and insensitive, but you don't outright hurt someone like this."

Tai, staring at her, lifted up a hand to brush back a strand of hair form his face, his eyes looking at her with a deep feeling of pain running through him. "I... I..." Then it was over, and a more demanding pain filled him as he pushed his hands against his head, several images flashing through them with more and more pain with each one. "Leave me alone!"

Kari blinked as he brother gave his Devidramon a simple kick on the back and watched as it began to move through the air, it's eyes still looking down at the building below them, on it's back, Tai was barely holding onto it with one hand. "Tai, wait!"

"Go away." Tai spat out the words as he shut his eyes and began to sit down on the Devidramon in a normal way, his D3 no longer held with a death grip. "Just... Leave me alone."

Kari, hearing the pain, doubt and hurt in his voice, reached out, trying to grab him, even of there were several meters between them. "Tai, please, We, I can help you."

Still fighting the images running through his head, Tai opened his eyes and glared back at her with face contorted with pain and fury. "Go away!!"

Under him, the Devidramon sense his master's trouble and glare at the one thing that could possible be causing him this pain and glared as an attack began building up inside of it, the urge to defend this human with its own life overpowering it with each second. "Dark Gale!!"

"Kari!!" Screaming out in shock, several voice filled the area as the dark force was hit by several other attacks and canceled out in midair.

Rushing towards the place, four digimons became more and clear as well as the four kids on the back of them, two f which even Tai could regonized despit ethe long time since he last saw them. "Matt, Sora?" Watching the bland haired boy and orange haired girl looking up at him from the back of Garurumon snapped him out of his pain. "Dammit." Cursing to himself, Tai turned to regard the other digimons in the place. "Bah, this isn't over yet." 

Still sitting on Nefertimon's back, Kari followed the sight of the Devidramon as it shot up into the air, moving away from her and the others as fast as it could go. "Tai?" The name fell form her mouth as she briefly spotted the messy brown hair and face looking back at her. "Tai!!"

Sitting on the back of Garurumon and holding onto to Matt for Support, Sora stared up at the rapidly fading Devidramon with an open mouth. "Tai?"

Turning his head at the name, Matt stared at her with a tense look on his face. "Sora?"

Looking at the blond haired boy, Sora didn't answer right away, her eyes half closed with old pain as he pushed further into him for support. "He's back, I didn't, how. Myotismon killed him." Mumbling in broken sentences, Sora didn't notice Matt tense, or the questing look he sent the other kids rushing up to them, instead, he focused on Nefertimon and Kari coming down towards the ground, the same crushed expression on the brown haired girls face as the one on Sora's.

***********************

"So, we're back in a cell again." Palmon mumbled out as she glared around the small room she was in, the cold damp air and lack of light reminding her far too much of the weeks she had spent isolated in a cell very similar to this one, her yells and cries falling on deaf ears when she had felt and heard her human partner getting hurt by that bastard Yagami. "And now it looks like it will continued with his friend."

Mimi, still looking a bit lost to the world, didn't look over at her ranting digimon partner, her eyes were still focused on the floor from time to time, or she was making sure that BlackGatomon wasn't dying before Taichi came back. "It's not his fault." Mimi mumbled out as she caught one of Palmon's curses aimed at the messy haired boy as she cradle the black feline digimon in her arms.

Turning around to face her, Palmon glared at her as she crossed her arms. "What do you mean it's not his fault?" Voice rising a bit as she stepped closer to Mimi, Palmon shot a dark look down at BalckGatomon in Mimi's arms. "He beat you, cut you, whipped you as well if I'm mistaken, stapped you with needles, killed off Michael and let's not forget beat you up pretty badly in the end." Breathing a bit harshly at the end or her speech, Palmon slowly turned away form her partner to continue glaring at the door. "And now, his girl friend is going to repeat the same thing." 

"It the virus." Mimi mumbled out as she looked down at the floor, her eyes glittering with a few tears. "I saw what he went through in the past, BlackGatomon showed it too me when I touched her." Not looking at Palmon's skeptic look, Mimi continued her sentence. "He suffered the same kind of treatment as he gave me, you and Michael. His master, never gave him a choice, never asked if he wanted to become a monster like this."

Palmon, turning her head to the door, hid her skeptic look form Mimi as she listen to what the cinnamon haired girl told her.

Mimi, not seeing how her partner digimon reacted to her, continued to talk about the visions she had seen when she touched BlackGatomon. "He was beaten, forced to do the things the master wanted him to do, and when he had forgotten himself, forgotten what he cared about, he was sent here, by the master, to work with BlackGatomon in securing the digital world, for his return."

"So?" Palmon asked as she turned around, and stared at the girl still holding the black feline digimon. "Who is this master anyway?"

"I don't know." Mimi replied as she continued to stare at the wall. 

"He came here a long time ago"

Turning their heads, Mimi and Palmon stared at a Floramon standing just outside the cell door as it fully opened, her eyes looking at both of them with a trouble expression. "That's what the rumors say, he wants to return here, to finish what he started long ago."

Mimi, sitting up a bit, looked closer at the digimon and then gave a real smile as she finally recognized it. "You're the one that made this dress and the others."

Floramon, blushing a bit at the words, stepped further into the cell. "Yes, I did, and I'm glad you liked them, but it's not safe for you here anymore." Speaking in a rapid way, the plant type digimon began to wave her hand as she stepped back out the door. "Now come on."

Palmon, looking closer at the digimon in front of her, crossed her arms and began to narrow her eyes. "So, why are you helping us?"

The Floramom, looked a bit puzzled but then gave a little smile as she gave a small bow to each of them. "Two reasons, because Master Taichi asked me too, and two, because it is in my Partner's interest to get the two of you out of here. "

"Your partner?" Mimi and Palmon asked at the same time, both voice holding a lot of doubt.

Still grinning, the Floramon turned around and waved her hand again. "Yes, now come on, she's waiting outside the castle with Gennai."

"But none of you will make it out to them."

Turning around, Floramon, Palmon and Mimi stepped back at the sight of the red haired girl holding the cell door. Behind her, a group of digimons was silently laughing. "But thanks for the warning, now the Master will be truly pleased with me when I bring him the hated Gennai as well as you two and the failure."

As the door slammed shut and gave of the sound of being locked again, the two digimons and one human stared in defeat at the walls of the cell. "So much for that rescue." Palmon muttered out as she stared at Floramon sitting down next to the wall.

***********************

"Why?" Tai asked out into the air as he sat silently on his Devidramon, the rain clouds still letting off a soft drizzle of water as they moved through the air. "She wasn't supposed to be able to do that, she's nothing to me, I don't care about her, so why, did she affect me like that?"

Closing his eyes, Tai fought back the image of a laughing young brown haired girl holding his hadn as they walked through the park, the same girl lying sick in a bed, coughing badly because of him. "No, she means nothing..." Eyes tightly closed as he let a single tear run free, the messy haired boy finally gave into it, the feeling of regret growing inside of his heart. "She matters to me."

Opening his eyes and allowing the water to his hit his face right on, Tai gave a small smile as he tried to recall more memories off her, but still feeling a small nagging amount of doubt when he remembered the Master. "I owe him, he my lord, it is him I serve, but, I don't, I keep failing him" Looking at his hands, Tai sighed deeply as he felt the Devidramon begin to slow down in order to land. "Who am I, her brother, or the right hand of my master?"

Landing in the courtyard, the Devidramon lowered itself down to the ground completely, making it easier for his master to get off, but instead of sliding down to the ground at once, the devil dragon digimon was puzzled at it felt him remain sitting on his back.

Tai, noting that they had stopped moving, slowly moved a hand and a leg to get off, only to stop as he once again went over the encounter with his sister. "If it hadn't be for her, I would have completed my mission." The truth of it smacked into him as he closed his eyes with a deep feeling of complete failure. "Dammit, I'm the loyal servant of my master, doubt and regret is not a part of me!!" Pushing off roughly against the back of the Devidramon, Tai landed on his feet in the courtyard, and found himself staring at a couth yard full of rubble. "What the?" 

Stumbling away the Demidramon through the rubble, Tai stared up at the damaged and burnt tower, the rocks still crumbling down a bit into the courtyard and garden. Pushing his way in through the door, Tai stared around at the hallway, taking in the slightly damage furniture here and there, the sight of battle having taken place clear to him "BlackGatomon!"

Getting no answer to his yell, Tai slowly began to make his way down the hallway, the corridor splitting up with one set of stairs leading up to the upper floors of the castle and the master's throne room, the other corridor's leading off to the various level of the castle.

Looking up the stairs with a trouble frown on his face, Tai slowly lifted put a foot and took the first step up towards the second floor, his cape make a soft sound as it brushed against the railing. "Mimi!" Calling out the girl name, Tai stopped at the top of the stairs, his eyes moving to stare i the direction of his bedroom, and the room severing as hers. 

Both of them had been smashed in, the wooden doors barely handing onto the doors frames as he passed them, casting a worried glance into each of them, but finding nothing but complete and utter destruction of what had been inside of them, but thankfully, there were no signs of a hurt Mimi or Blackgatomon in either of them.

Returning to the staircase, Tai slowly lifted up his eyes and stared up at the next level of the castle, the floor that would belong to the master when he returned to claim this world as he own. Planting one hand on the railing, Tai slowly began to make his way up the small staircase, each footstep sounding like a bomb to him.

Then he was up, and standing in front of the large double doors. the faint sound of talking coming from inside of it the closer he came. Standing right before the door, Tai slowly lifted up a hand and rested it on the door handle, wondering if he should step in and see if it really was his master who had been responsible for all of this. 

Then he felt it getting pushed down, followed by the door opening up into the throne room, a light flooding out form the inside of it, several champion digimon's turning to stare at him. and standing in front of the throne itself was a person he had only seen on a rare occasion when they needed to discuss something. "Motomiya!"

"Yagami." The girl replied as she stepped down from the podium, her boots clicking on the floor as her dress moved across the floor, her eyes twinkling with barely concealed amusement. "I think i have something that belong to you." Turning her head as she spoke, Motomiya pointed a finger at a small group of Bakemon's hovering in the air nearby.

"Mimi, BlackGatomon!" Tai's cry filled the room as he recognized the girl hanging from a rope, her brown hair hanging messily down her back, the dress she was wearing slight torn in a few places. And next to her, knocked out cold from all appearance, BlackGatomon was tied up and being held by the cuff off her neck.

Moving his eyes to the side, he spotted a Floramon and Mimi's Palmon being held back by two other Bakemon's. Their eyes staring at him with fear and anger as he stepped a bit further into the room. "Motomiya, why. Did the Master order this?"

"Yes." The simply replied as she stepped further out, raising a hand to one of the digimon and smiled as it helped her to get up on a small chair placed inside the room. "You not only failed in your mission to kill the blond haired boy, but you allowed the digi destined to defeat you as well." Smiling a bit as she lifted up her digivice, she looked right into Tai's eyes. "Therefore, the Master had declared you to weak to be a part of his forces, and all weaklings, should be removed."

Feeling someone grab his arms, Tai looked back to see two large ape like digimon look down at him, an empty stare in their eyes as they began to drag him toward the center of the room. "Imitamon, nothing but false version of digimon's." Tai spat out as he returned his gaze to the girl sitting in her chair. "What, are you too weak to control a real digimon? Is that it, Jun Motomiya?"

"Shut up." Jun screamed as her hand lashed out and smacked the messy hair boy on the side of his head, the force of it sending his head spinning as he was thrown onto the stone floor. "I've put up with you for too long, this Castle should have been mine, not that run down fortress on that stupid island."

Calming herself down, Jun settled back down on her throne. "But now, it will be mine, as soon as I have removed you, your pet digimon and that girl you shared you virus with." Smirking as she lifted up her hand, Jun stopped when a sudden distant explosion sounded through the room, looking up, she blinked as several small clouds of dust fell down from the ceiling as the room shook a bit. "What the..." 

Turning to stare at her digimons, she stopped when a large shape became clear through the only window that was placed in the room. "No." Looking through the strained glass, her eyes fixed on the small metal and glass structure she could see on the large stone like object hovering in the air above the castle. "The Digimon Emperor!"

"That is correct! I am the Digimon Emeperor" A new voice echoed through the room, several digimons as well as Tai and Jun turned their heads at the voice, to stare down at the young boy standing in the doorway. Meramon's and Frigimon's surrounded him on both sides as his eyes swept over the room. "And you fools, will pay for trying to take over my property." Stepping into the room, the Meramon's and Frigimon's slid into a battle position. "Now, why don't you explain to me who you are, and why this place has escape my attention for so long?"

Jun, teeth gnashing against each other slowly stepped down from her throne, her eyes blazing with fury as she gazed at the younger boy, more of her anger aimed at the superior voice he had used against her. "I will tell you nothing, Digi brat, other then this, your little Emperor stunt ends now, and the areas under your control, will belong to me, and the Master."

The Digimon Emperor, eyes narrowed in boredom and annoyance at this girl, slowly turned to stare at the messy haired boy, the girl in the dress and the three digimon's being held captive. "Hmm, maybe I should have entered a bit later, it looks like you were about to make my job a bit easier for me." Lifting up a Dark Ring as he spoke, the Emperor smirked as he tossed it through the air, aiming for the closest of the digimon's.

"No!" Jun screamed as she whipped out her digivice. "Go Penmon, show that guy's who the one in control here."

Penmon, rushing out from the shadows of Jun's throne, jumped up into the air as a dark blue glow ran over him in the middle of his jump. "Penmon, digivolve too Saberdramon" Spreading out his much lager wings, the champion bird dragon type digimon glared down at the human boy before it. "You will not hurt mistress Jun, not while I live."

"Hah." Pulling out his Dark digivice, The Emperor smirked as a dark light filled the room, Saberdramon blinking as he glowed and dedigivovled back into Penmon. "You really scare me feather brain." Stepping further into the room, he replaced his dark digivice at his belt. "Now, let's us finish this. Slaves, attack, get their digivices for me, and destroy these false digimons."

Tai, sitting on the floor, tore his shoulders free from his captures grip and rushed away as several fire balls and frost blasts began to fly through the air, some of them getting far to close to both him and Mimi for his liking. "Mimi, BlackGatomon" Looking up at the Bakemon as he got closer to them, he crouched down and jumped up towards them, grabbing a hold of Mimi as he passed her, as well as BlackGatomon, the action causing the Bakemon to release his hold on them. "Hold on."

Landing on the ground with a thud, Tai looked up at the girl he had pressed into his chest, and his partner digimon clinging onto her back as well. "Come on, wake up will you, I need your help if we're going to survive this." Looking away form them, Tai gulped as the Bakemon's dropped Palmon and the Floramon, making their way towards him, Mimi and Blackgatomon instead. "Come on wake up, will you!" Risking a look up, Tai cursed as he noticed just how close the enemy digimons had come to them.

TBC: A Grand Battle between Evil.

AN: Well, another chapter finished, but it doesn't quite leave me with the feeling that it's as good as it could be. But, no matter how I turned it around or tried to picture some it a bit differently, it wouldn't come out right.

The same feeling has begun to spread to the whole story line as a whole. In fact, I'm starting to agree with some reviews that it could have been done in a different way, without the whole vampire bit mixed into it.

So, until I've settled on weather to continue this story and just give it up, I'm putting it on hold. This should also let me get around to work on other projects I have cooked up and ready to be presented to all.


	7. Part VII

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Summery: AU, very AU and dark, with mentioning of torture, violence and blood drinking. Hunting for Michael to finish what he started, Tai confronted the digi destined and taunted them before making his way towards the village where the blond haired boy currently is. At the same Time, Mimi and Blackgatomon found themselves under attack by some kind of creation the Master sent to kill them.

=============================  
Spawn of the vampire  
Part VI  
A Grand Battle between Evil.  
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Poking the camp fire with a stick, Tai turned his head to look back at the small form curled up on the remains of his cape, a ragged breathing sounding in the air as the small body shook violently. "Blackgatomon?" Turning to face her, Tai slowly dropped the stick into the fire as his mind was cast back to earlier that day.

Landing on the ground with a thud, Tai looked up at the girl he had pressed into his chest, and his partner digimon who was clinging onto her back as well. "Come on, wake up will you, I need your help if we're going to survive this." Looking away form them, Tai gulped as the Bakemon's dropped Palmon and the Floramon, making their way towards him, Mimi and Blackgatomon instead. "Come on wake up, will you!" Risking a look up, Tai cursed as he noticed just how close the enemy digimons had come to them.

Scrambling to get away from them, Tai mumbled out a command for them to stop, to turn away or simply forget about them, but to no hope as the digimons rushed forward to carry out a command given to them hours ago. "Dammit, I won't go down like this!"  
  
"And you won't!" Looking up at the cry, Tai blinked as the closets Bakemon were lashed up tightly with several green vines, an angry Palmon standing behind them as she moved her arms and vines, smacking the ghost type digimons into the wall with a sickening thud.

"We will help you, no matter what." Came a second voice as Floramon shook her hands in the air, a glimmer cloud of dust hitting the remain three Bakemon's as they turned to face the new attacks, seconds before their eyes grew rather big and curses could be heard from them as they started to scratch themselves.

Still holding Mimi and Blackgatomon close to him, Tai cast a worried look from each of the rookie Digimons to the other one as they began to walk towards him, Mimi's partner digimon scaring him the most as he could have sworn it had a look of murderous intent in those insect like eyes. "You know, you need me to carry her out of this room right." Palmon's face didn't show any response, well, except the grin forming on it. ""

Floramon, looking around at the chaos around them sighed as she noted the many fake digimons fighting the true digimons, and that the battle was starting to spread out towards the sides of the room. But at least the room would never be the same again.

Hiding behind a pillar, Jun cursed as yet another fireball flew past her head and impacted one of the walls with thundering bang, dirt flying out as the wall began to show signs of collapsing. "No, you idiots, stop him!" The roar could barely be heard as one of the dark ringed digimons flew past her and impacted the wall with a thud.

At her side, Penmon were beginning to feel just a bit scared over the way the battle had begun to turn, more and more of their fake digimons falling to the Emperor's dark ringed digimons as yet another batch of them poured in through the doorway in a massive group. "Should we, retreat?"

"No." Jun voice had turned ice cold as she lifted up her digivice with a dark grin on her face as a dark purple light began to flow from it, covering the nearest Imitamons. "We're going to even out the odds, Imitamons, merge to form Ultimate level Imitamon."

At the words barely hear din the room, the Digimon Emperor turned his attention from direction the battle, to stare at the fake digimons losing their form, instead turning into something he could have sworn belonged in a video game. They were about his waist height, had a pudding like body with two eyes hovering over the top, and a reddish skin tone. Then, they gave a small laugh before they began to flow into one another, their bodies mixing together and gaining a much darker skin color then before. "What is she doing?"

Jun, stepping out form behind the pillar and into the protection of the much larger digimon, grinned as she pulled out a D-terminal from her belt, her eyes narrowing in laughter as she opened it and pointed it at the much larger Imitamon who had shifted around to look at her. "I'm transferring the data of a digimon that will be more then enough to defeat you and your little band of loser mons." Pushing a finger down on the button, a beam of light shot out form the D-terminal and impacted with the imitamon.

Glowing bright white for a second, a dark and hateful roar filled the room as a shadow feel over the digimons who had stopped fighting to stare at the towering digimon still growing. "I present to you all, the latest addition to the lines of my Masters army, Megadramon."

The demonic like dragon with the two cannons for hands, lowered it's head as Jun walked closer to it. "And with this one's help, we shall destroy the digi destined, the Digimon Emperor, and anyone else who will stand in the way of the coming rule of The Master." Standing on the back of Megadramon, Jun lifted her arm and pointed at the digimons before her. "Now, kill them all, the traitor, the self glorified brat and the worthless digimons."

Snarling in pure rage, the Emperor slowly lifted up his hand and snapped his fingers, the sound echoing in the room seconds before a loud rumble filled the room. "Well done child." Speaking in his most superior tone, the Emperor turned around to walk out of the room. "But, you are nothing compared to me, for I too have brought a special reinforcement with me."

At the words, the roof of the building began to shake as row of sharp looking claws smacked down through the stone in several places. "I hope you don't mind bugs, for these ones, will be more difficult to get rid of then a ant colony."

Looking up, Jun cursed as half the roof began to fall down, rocks and large wooden beams impacted digimons as they ran around confused, then her head snapped to the right as she spotted a familiar mop of brown hair trying to sneak out of the room without her knowing it. "Yagami, don't think you will escape from this!" Looking down as she spoke, she locked eyes with the only remaining Kougamon standing before her and snapped out her hand. "What are you waiting for, kill him."

"Yes, Lady Motomiya!"

Turning away form the boy, Jun hissed as a group of five Snimon's fell down through the hole in the roof, the insect digimons turning to face her, and coming up the stairs, she spotted a lone Blacktyrannomon trying to fit inside the narrow rooms of the castle. "Digimon Emperor, I swear, you will pay for this."

Under her, the Megadramon began to move up the floor, his arms going out in front of his as the Snimon's moved to attack him and his mistress. "Dark Side Attack!!"

Jun grimaced as the whole wall and roof vanished in a single blast, the other digimons roaring out in pain as they were hurled backwards as well. Then her eyes moved up to see the cracks forming in the stone ceiling above her. "Move it, get us out of here!"

Obeying her command, the dramon type digimon took off from the ground and aimed for the rather large hole that had been blown in the castle, his tail barely making it out before the rest of the roof gave in and collapsed with a thundering roar, a cloud of dust rising up in the air.

Coughing from all of the dust, Jun eye grew wide as something moved in the air above the ruined throne room, something large and powerful. "What is that?" Screaming out the words, she blinked as a single digimon showed itself as the dust cleared away.

Standing on an Airdramon, The digimon Emperor smirked as he looked at the digimon. "Meet my greatest creation, the most perfect Digimon to date, Kimeramon!"

The digimon roared at its name, the four arms moving a bit in the air as it turned to face the Imitamon moving on the ground below it. "Heat Viper!" The air itself shimmered as the greenish colored energy blast flew out of its mouth, impacting the ground and tearing through it, the Kougamons standing right where the blast hit giving a loud scream before they burst apart in several clouds of digital data.

"Dammit." Cursing; Jun looked down at her Megadramon and bit her lip. Even if it was an ultimate level Imitamon, it was doubtful it could keep itself together long enough to defeat that Frankenstein style monster of a digimon. "Bastard." Muttering out a curse, Jun quickly kicked the Megadramon in the side and pointed off towards the horizon.

Stopping his Airdramon, the Digimon Emperor smirked as he for once saw the most beautiful sights ever. For once one of his enemies were actually running away from him without a heavy loss on his side. "Still, this isn't the end of the war, I have exposed their presence in my world, and now I will have to removed them."

Giving the order for the Airdramon to return to the base, the Digimon Emperor grinned as he simply turned his head to gaze over at the Megadramon and the girl on it. "Now do you see what happens to those who defy me?" Yelling out the question, he saw her snap her head around to glare at him from the back of her digimon. "Until next time, where I will crush you and your master for good."

Holding back several cries and swearwords at the arrogant way the younger boy had spoken to her in, Jun settled for glaring up at the hovering base in the air, her eyes narrowing as she spotted a single Airdramon landing on the top of it. "We'll meet again Digimon Emperor, you can count on it." Facing the horizon after that, her thoughts turned to a much darker thing, telling the mastes his castle had been lost.

Staggering out into one of the side rooms as the battles started up for real, Tai looked back at Palmon walking right behind him, the same dark look on her plant face as before, only this time, she didn't have to hold back from his treats if she thought her partner was in danger. "Great, I guess we have to take the servants route down then."

Floramon ignored the sarcastic voice and pushed open the wooden door with a smile on her face. "Come, come, my partner is waiting for us at the foot of the castle."

"You heard her vamp boy." Palmon started as she gave him a rather harsh nudge in his back, signaling for him to step forwards through the door opening. "And make sure Mimi doesn't hit the walls or doorways, understand?"

Grumbling several death treats under his breath, Taichi moved the cinnamon haired girl into a better position and began to carry her down, his eyes moving from her head to the painful expression on Blackgatomon's head, a slight doubt as too who he should feel most concern for briefly waging a war in his heart.

As the group walked down the stair way, the Kougamon grinned as she stared down after them, allowing them get a bit head start before stepping out into the servants stairway as well. His sword getting lifted up to better do its work when the time came.

Stumbling out of the door at the bottom of the stairway, Floramon reached out a hand and pushed the door open, letting some sunlight in from the kitchen area. "This way, my partner is waiting right outside the backdoor."

Struggling a bit to hold onto Mimi, Taichi narrowed his eyes at the words of the Floramon already asking himself how he could have missed seeing her as a partnered digimon when he enslaved her. "So, I had a spy in here all a long."

Palmon grinned as she poked him in the bag. "Seems that way, now move it fang face." Casting a worried look at Mimi, Palmon quickly covered it up as she focused on getting the one responsible for the mess to do her orders.

Opening the kitchen door, Floramon looked out into the small grass covered area and smiled, running out the door with her arms wide open. "Catherine."

Staring up at the name from the plant type digimon, Taichi froze as he spotted the blond haired girl hugging the plant digimon in his own backyard. Then his eyes moved over to stare at the person standing next to them, an elder man with dish water blond hair and dressed in a strange looking robe. "What the?" Shaking his head a bit, the messy haired boy stepped out as he felt Palmon poke him one more time.

"Oh." The blond haired girl, Catherine spoke as she saw them, a bit of anger flashing in her eyes as she rose up form hugging her digimon partner. "So, you are the monster who did those horrible things to the digimons."

At her outburst, the person next to her planted his hand on her shoulder and shook his head. "Easy Catherine." Stepping forward, he reached out and picked the cinnamon haired girl form Tai's arms, a gentle look in his eyes. "She's not hurt to badly, but, it would be best if she were to be given a bit more rest."

Looking up from Mimi in his arms, the elder man smiled at Taichi. "Well, well, I didn't really think we would meet like this, Taichi." Ignoring the puzzled look in his eyes, the man turned around a bit as if getting ready to leave. "You don't remember me do you, Taichi, but that's okay."

"Enough" Taichi spat out the words as he stepped back, his arms holding Blackgatomon who had started to wake up as well, her yellow eyes blinking an extra time as she noticed the much larger group around her and Taichi. "Just who are you old man, and how do you know my name?"

Chuckling a bit, the man shook his head as he stared at Taichi with a glimmer of old amusement in his eyes. "Still as hot headed as back then." Still smiling, he looked from Tai to the digimon in his arms and the smile faltered a bit as he took in the black feline look back at him. "But, we can talk about that later, right now, it would be best if we left."

Taichi didn't move a single centimeter as he crossed his arms. "Who are you?" In his arms, Blackgatomon hissed out in anger, as she shakily stood up onto her paws, fully ready to fight if her partner demanded it of her.

The man stopped and looked at them with a cloud of pity in them. "You really don't remember, do you?" Then he stared up into the sky with half closed eyes. "I'm Gennai, Taichi, and believe me, we may not have met before, but I know all about your times in the digital world." Looking up as he spoke, Gennai's eyes narrowed as he saw another explosion take place at the top of the castle. "But this is not the place or time to speak about this, come, I have a place where we can talk in peace."

"For Lady Motomiya!"

Turning around at the sudden yell, Taichi stumbled back as red blur headed towards him, light glinting off the sword it held up over its head. "No!" Tai blinked as his arms were forced open by Blackgatomon, the black colored feline diving through the air towards the attacker. "Cat's paw!" Connecting with the digimon, Blackgatomon flung him back and landed on the ground, stumbling a bit as she did so.

The digimon grunted as it was knocked back around in the air, landing on his feet as he did a back flip in the last minute to avoid leaving himself to open. "Die Traitor!" Fling out his free hand, something glinted in the brightly as he open up his fist. "Scattler diamond"

Trying to avoid it, Blackgatomon cursed as she stumbled from her sudden reawakning, not yet completely well from what Jun had done to her. As a result, the diamond like projectile slammed into her lower back, cutting trough her fur and skin deeply enough to draw blood, making her cry out in pain as she fell down.

"Floramon!" The yell had come form the blond haired girl Tai noticed as she held out an very light purple colored D3 before her, a light flowing from it to Floramon.

The plant digimon glowed bright white as she turned to face the attacker. "Floramon Digivolve too... Kiwimon!" Replacing the plant digimon, a wingless bird with a skull on its head glared at the Kougamon. "Pummel peck!"

Moving his sword form side to side, the ninja like digimon deflected each of the small birds head Kiwimon kept firing at him, before he grinned and held up his sword before him. "Die, Kouga style off shot!" Glowing a bit at his words, Kougamon's sword sent out a thin line of light through the air as he swung it.

Jumping up over the attack at it came towards him with practice ease, Kiwimon grinned as he kicked downwards with his right leg. "High jumping kick!" Nailing Kougamon right between the eyes and sending him down onto the ground with the force of it alone, leaving him wide open for the next attack. "Pummel peck!"

Kougamon barely got a scream out as the attack tore through him, all color fading from his body before he burst into a cloud of digital data that faded away within a few seconds.

"Taichi, Blackgatomon, is she okay?" Gennai asked as he looked down at the messy haired boy sitting before the champion level digimon, his hands cradling her gently as he struggled to hold back a cry of fear. "Taichi, if she's not hurt to badly, pick her up and come with us."

Wordlessly, Taichi did as Gennai had told him, holding his partner close to his chest as he rose up from the ground, watching the tear filled yellow eyes looking up at him. "Blackgatomon?" Poking her gently with a finger, Taichi ignored Gennai's calls for him, turning around to watch part of the castle crumple and fall down into the gardens. "I'm sorry."

"Look out boy!"

Lifting his head at Gennai's roar, Taichi stared in mute terror as the castle wall above him began to crumble ad fall down towards them, the only thing saving him from becoming a small flat pancake under a ton of debris was the fact that the first amount of it hit the ground a bit to the side of him, sending him stumbling back in fear as more and more hammered down.

Finally it stopped, leaving him panting in terror as he had pressed himself into the corner of two walls, his eyes taking in the cloud of dust still rising up into the air as a few bricks fell form the sky every now and then. "Dammit." Turning, he stared up at the Emperor's castle far above him. "Guess you won the battle, emperor."

Glaring back down at the ground, Taichi slowly made his way towards the ruined outer wall of his castle, stepping over the debris in his way. "Motomiya, I swear you will pay for this." Slipping trough the hole, Taichi grinned as he made his way towards the one place his queen hadn't seen, the back road up to his castle.

The back road wasn't really what it could be called, since it was nothing more then a rather primitive elevator leading down into the forest. But it still worked and that served as a great plus in his book as they slowly approached the forest below. "Blackgatomon, are you okay?" Staring down at his partner, Taichi bit his lip as he noticed how quiet she had gotten. "Please, hang in there, you can't die, please."

"I failed you." Taichi muttered in a depressed tone of voice as he stroked the black feline, who was still whimpering a bit as she struggled to recover from her wounds. "Maybe, if I had been faster, or known he was there, this wouldn't have happened to you."

Blackgatomon slowly opened her eyes as her partner spoke, her eyes staring into his as she began to sit up, but stopping as the gash on her back sent a wave of pain running through her, making her gasp as her a hand reached down and helped her settle into a less painful position. "You couldn't have known it." She mumbled out as she grabbed the hand, staring up at her partner with a tearful expression. "It was my fault, should have sensed him coming"

Taichi shook his head as he refused to believe her, his brown hair falling down over his eyes as he did so. "I'm your partner, and I failed to protect you."

Still holding his hand, Blackgatomon shook her head as she began to push her body towards him. "No it wasn't you, it was me." Coughing a bit, Blackgatomon settled back down. "It was my fault." Then she stopped talking as pain rushed through her again. When it stopped, she just stared at Tai as she reached out a paw, running it over the clothes he was wearing. "Your outfit, it..."

"Hmm." Tai didn't really answer as he lowered his head, his free hand running over the simple blue T-shirt with the star on his chest. "I... I couldn't go on, you were hurt because of me, and she was hurt because of me." Looking away from the black feline like digimon, he gave her a sad smile. "The master, and Jun, tried to kill me." Tai gave her a small grin as he gave her a small rub on the head. "I don't think he wants me to work for him anymore and even if he did, I know I won't work for him."

Blackgatomon gave her best attempt at smiling back at him as she enjoyed the head rub. "Are you free of the virus"

No answer came as Tai gently pulled his hand free from her paws. "Sleep Blackgatomon, you need it, you have to recover your strength."

--------------------

"Come on Mimi, wake up already. it's me Gennai, we have to talk."

Rolling over in the warm futon, Mimi gave a content smile as she reached out to pull Palmon close to her, hoping to prolong this moment before she had to wake up and face the fact that she was still a prisoner at some vampire boy's castle in the middle of the digital world, even if he treated her like a queen, she still wanted to go home again, to be just a normal girl. "Mom... Dad..."

"Mimi, I know you're awake?"

Eyes napping open as the familiar, yet rather unexpected voice reached her, she felt a blush creep up on her face when she noticed a rather young looking man kneeling on the ground next to her bedroll, his eyes staring at her with a familiar look of gentleness in them as he held out a cup of water to her. "You?" Sitting up in the bed, Mimi blushed as she dragged the blanket up to cover her. "Are you really, Gennai?"

The person who had called himself Gennai held the cup of water out to her again as he gave a smile. "Here, drink this Mimi, you must be thirsty." Standing up as the cinnamon haired girl had taken the cup form him, Gennai gave her a gentle stare as he turned to pick up something form a nearby dresser. "I'm afraid the dress you were wearing have been too damaged to be repaired, but, a good friend was willing enough to bring a change of clothes with her."

Turning her head, Mimi stared form the cup in her hand, down onto the clothes held out to her, wondering just who Gennai knew that wore dresses like that. "Uh, Thanks." Lifting up her head, her eyes turned serious as she looked at him. "But Gennai, what about Palmon? And Taichi and Blackgatomon?"

Gennai's eyes turned a bit serious at her question as he placed the clothes on the bed before her. "Taichi, he's... out there somewhere." Not looking at her as he spoke, Gennai stood up and looked back at her. "Why don't you get dressed, and we'll talk some more."

"Okay." Speaking a bit hesitant at first, Mimi slowly picked up the clothes on the bed and pulled back the cover, stopping as she stared down at herself. "The scars, they're gone." Shaking her head as she found herself staring a bit too long at her own body, she stood up and looked at the stuff Gennai had left her with. A red Dress, the design of it clearly western and a pair of long white socks with a pair of indoor sandals as well.

Slowly putting it on, Mimi looked up when she finished buttoning up the front of the dress, turning to stare at her reflection, but stopping when she no longer had any mirror around to check it in. But, the dress did fit her well enough. Stopping just below her knees and with short sleeves, she liked it already.

Turning around, she walked over to the door and pulled it back, stepping out through it and into the hallways of Gennai's house, looking very much like she remembered it too do. "Gennai, are you still here?" Calling out for him, she stopped when she heard the sound of feet on the wooden floor from down the hallway. "Hello?"

Mimi froze as a blond haired girl looked around the corner of the hallway and smiled at her as she stepped fully around it with Floramon at her feet. "Floramon?" Looking from the digimon back to the girl, she blinked when she noticed how close she had gotten. "I'm sorry, I'm Mimi Tachikawa."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Catherine." Pointing down to the Floramon, the blond haired girl smiled in a very friendly way. "And you already know my digimon partner, Floramon." Looking back at Mimi, she did a quick look up and down as she hummed a bit to herself. "Well, it looks like it fits you perfectly in all the right places."

Blushing a bit at the rather blunt way the foreign girl spoke; Mimi nodded, as she looked around the hallway. "Um, have you seen Palmon, or Gennai?" At the name of her digimon, Mimi sighed as she felt herself longing to just have her by her side again.

Across form her, Catherine nodded as she turned halfway around and looked down the hallway as well. "Gennai's down in his workshop, and Palmon should be in the living room." Starting to walk away, the blond haired girl looked back over her shoulder as Mimi began to follow her. "How are you feeling?"

Mimi shrugged a bit at the question as she looked up at the ceiling of the hallway. "A bit exhausted, but I think I can handle it anyway." Mumbling out the words, the cinnamon haired girl paused as she felt just how dry her mouth was. And to more insult to her tiredness, her stomach just had to choose that moment to grumble loudly.

Catherine hid a small giggled at the embarrassed look on Mimi's face, not feeling that it would be right to laugh at it at the moment. "Come this way, I think I can find some food for you." Stepping in through one of the doors, she paused as she looked around the living room. "Okay, you wait here, and I'll go and look for something."

Sitting down at the table, Mimi nodded off a bit as she placed one hand under her chin, her eyes staring out through the door and into the small number of fish swimming past the outside of it. "Just like back then, when we first came here." Mumbling out the words, she shrugged as she looked around the room.

The sound of a door sliding open made her turn around in time to see Gennai step into the room, a smile on his face when he noticed her sitting at the table. "Ah, good. I see the clothes fit you." Stepping over to sit at the dinner table as well, Gennai coughed a bit as he pulled out her digivice and handed it over to her. "Here, you'll need this again, and Palmon as well."

"Where is Palmon?" Mimi asked as she took the digivice from the table, placing it in the belt around her dress. "I thought she would be in here."

Gennai nodded a bit as he turned around and pushed a few buttons on a small remote, making a part of the wall slide open to let a rather large computer screen out. "Palmon's in my lab, helping me learn more about Taichi and Jun, and how they came about their powers." Pushing a button on the remote, the computer screen lit up and a number of letters ran across the screen followed by a map. "But for now, we have a more pressing concern to deal with."

Mimi nodded as she watched the younger version of Gennai stand up, but not quiet able to forget the question poking her in the back of her mind. "Gennai?." Seeing him turn to face her, she looked down at the table to avoid seeing his expression when she asked him. "What about Taichi did he?"

Gennai gave a small sigh and looked at the young girl before him, not really knowing how to handle something emotional like that. "Listen Mimi, you must understand this." Walking over to sit at the table again, he looked at Mimi as she avoided looking up at him. "Taichi... Isn't himself right now, he's infected by a virus, and what he's feeling right now, may not be real."

"But, the things he did and said." Mimi mumbled out as she held up a hand before her face, staring at it as she gave a deep sigh. "He scared me, hurt me, and at the same time, he was able to be so gentle and kind."

Gennai nodded as he listen to her, his hands held together in front of him. "I don't fully understand the virus, but I do know that it works much like the darkness in the digital world did to the digimons four years ago, it twisted them, made them stronger, more powerful, but also made them far more evil then the average virus digimon should be."

Mimi's hands clenched up a bit at the way Gennai and the others began to talk about the messy haired boy. "But he's not a digimon, Taichi and Jun are humans."

Gennai nodded at her remark and stood up, his hands on his back as he walked over to the computer screen. "I know, but you've seen how they act." His eyes glinting a bit with worry, he turned to face Mimi. "You're no longer infected by a virus, the power of your crest expelled it."

Eyes growing wide at the words, Mimi reached down a hand and touched the place where her crest had been when she had it all those years ago. "My crest, but how?"

Gennai shrugged as he stared at the screen, his eyes half closed as he went over a few things in his mind. "I don't really know, but my guess is your need for it grew to the point where you recalled it."

Mimi nodded at the explanation, her eyes closed as she poked the table in front of her. "So, were is it now?"

"My lab." Gennai answered as he stared back at her. "I'm doing a few tests to make sure it is the real one."

Looking towards the door, Mimi nodded a bit as she placed her hands on the table. "Gennai, that girl who's here, Catherine, who is she?"

Looking a bit surprised at her question, Gennai stared at her for a few seconds before he turned to look out the room with a neutral expression on his face. "Catherine's the one who helped save you, the Floramon at the castle is her partner digimon partner, just like Michael and Betamon are partners."

Mimi nodded a bit as she heard a door opening, turning her head to see Catharine step in through it with a small tray in her hands, The blond haired girl looking from her to Gennai with a smile. "Gennai contacted me when he noticed my partner had been taken as a slave by that messy haired boy, wanting to hear if I was willing to let Floramon work as a spy inside the castle."

"And Taichi, what happened to him?" Mimi asked for a second time as she watched the food Catharine placed on the table before her, a bowl of soup and some bread catching her eyes as she grabbed the spoon Catharine handed her. "If the virus can be remove from me, then the same thing should also count for him."

Gennai sighed deeply as he leaned back. "Mimi, Taichi isn't here." Staring up at the ceiling above him. "The castle were falling apart when we saved you, we nearly got Taichi with us as well." Seeing Mimi staring intently at him, he looked away. "Part of the castle fell down, making it dangerous for us to stay, we looked for him after it had settled down, but he was simply gone."

Dropping the spoon, Mimi stared in muted shock at him. "You mean he's dead."

"Maybe." Gennai replied as he looked at the cinnamon haired girl. "He wasn't at the castle ruins, so there's a chance he's still alive."

Looking down at the soup, Mimi poked the spoon with a finger as she tried to figure out the emotions running through her at the news, was she glad he was gone, that she was finally free, but even all of that, couldn't help dampen the small nagging thought that even for all his evil ways, he had been so nice and caring in the end. And besides, even if he was evil, he didn't deserve to go out like that. He could have been saved, like she had. "If he's still alive Gennai, what will you do about it?"

Gennai didn't answer right away as he looked at her, his eyes closing a bit. "I don't know."

--------------------

Sitting in his room, the master sighed as he rubbed hand over his eyes; it had already been several hours since Jun had returned to inform him of the losses to the Digimon Emperor and the destruction of his intended base of operations. All he had left now, was that old fortress in the northern regions of the Digital world.

But that was still in the future, the first part of the seal had been removed as planned, and all he had to do now was figure out how he could use it to his advantage. For him to even try and enter the digital world the seal had to be weaken a lot more then it currently was, or removed completely.

"Why did you even relay on that traitor Yagami anyway?" Jun's voice cut through the room as she stopped in the doorway, one hand resting on the side of it. "If you had left it all up to me, we wouldn't have to worry about the Digimon Emperor or the DD's at all." Spitting out the words, Jun crossed her arms as she watched the master. "But now, they know we're out there, all because that messy haired fool let his emotions get the better of him."

Pushing his dark thoughts away, the master sat up in his chair and regarded the familiar form of Jun standing in the doorway where he could barely make her out. "Motomiya, before you say another thing, remember this, I am the one who gave you and that brat your powers and digimon partners." Refocusing his eyes on the screen, he sneered as he watched the program running across it. "So I suggest you focus on your own tasks, and that traitor did bring me a Digi core, something you still haven't done." The last few words were spat out as he stood up, walking over to the doorway as well, stopping to stare down at Jun as she stepped out of his way. "You better hope for your sake that you don't fail me like Taichi did."

Gulping a bit at his tone, Jun nodded as she turned and walked over to the computer, her eyes staring at the numbers running across the screen in a lazy fashion. "Of course I won't" Mumbling out the words, Jun grinned as she lifted up her D3 to the screen before her. "Digi Port open!"

In the living room, the master snorted as he felt the digi port open behind him, letting the girl enter into the world that he had been banished from for so long ago. Both hands clenching at the feeling of resentment towards them all, the way they had spoken to him on that day.

i "How could you, don't you understand what you have done?" /i

"Gennai, Azulongmon, Baihumon. None of you could ever hope to understand me." Regarding the city outside his windows, the master growled as he turned around to face his apartment, the television humming in the corner as he turned it on, another mindless soap opera making him sick. "Useless creatures, all of them."

Dropping into the chair, his eyes narrowed as he flicked the TV over to something more important then the soap opera, his eyes opening a bit in interest as another news bulletin flashed across the screen, the same crying couple the main part of it as they had been for more then a month now. "Hmph, guess they still haven't found their wonder boy yet."

"Ah, you are just as sarcastic as I've heard."

Sitting up in the chair, the master head snapped around to face the person standing in the doorway to his apartment in the most relaxed and carefree manner, wearing a large dark purple trench coat. "How did you get in here? The door was locked."

The person nodded and held up a hand to dismissing any other questions from him. "Yes, but my friend here were able to unlock it for me." Stepping further into the room, a person grinned as he stepped in behind him, the first person's eyes moved across the little furniture in it. "You seem to have decorated your room quite nicely."

Standing up, the master's face twisted in anger as he stepped closer to the person before him, his fist reaching out to grab the trench coat on the person and pull him closer. "Who are you?"

The person's eyes moved down to glare at him as his mouth turned into a snarl. "Remove your hand or my friend here will end your little plan."

Turning his eyes to the side, the master slowly removed his hand from the person's trench coat as he spotted the other person holding up a strange looking gun, just as his whole body had turned from a rather range look human one into a more creepy looking creature. "A digimon?" Turning his head back to the first person, he stepped back a bit. "Who are you?"

Looking up from removing the wrinkles in his trench coat, the person smirked as he held out a hand towards him. "Ukyou Oikawa, but I prefer to be called Oikawa." Stepping closer to the master, Oikawa grinned as the smaller person before him fell back into the chair. "Now, I believe we have a few things to talk about."

--------------------

"How is she?"

Gennai, still sitting in a lotus position inside his study, looked up at the question, his eyes locking onto the blond haired girl standing in the doorway, at her feet, Floramon looked just as curios and concerned as her human partner.

Easing out of his meditation and standing up, Gennai smiled down a t the girl as he walked over to her. "Do not worry about her Catherine, she will be fine." Seeing her question look growing a bit more, he gently turned around and followed her stare over to where Mimi was sleeping in the room. "All we can do for now, is to let her sleep off the effects of what she has been through in the last weeks."

"I see." Catherine replied as she cast a look over onto the person lying on the futon, a clam expression on her face as she hugged her digimon partner close to her. "And the virus she had?"

"Gone." Gennai replied as he frowned, eyes narrowed as he walked over to the table and lifted up a single, pendent like object from it. "And here, we see the reason for it, her crest returned and helped her gain the extra power to finally expel it from her body."

Eyes growing a bit big at the words from the elder humon next to her, Catherine slowly walked over to stare at the pendent as well, tracing the teardrop shaped mark on the pink material. "Is it that powerful?"

Gennai, barely listing to her, placed it back down onto the table. "Yes, and its return are not as good as we might think it is." Feeling it more then seeing her questioning look, Gennai sighed and turned to look at her. "I told you about the digi destined and their adventure, the troubles they face now." Seeing her nod at his words, Gennai motioned for her to sit down in a chair across the table. "After their adventure, their crest returned to them to be used one last time, to heal the Digital World and put up a shield to protect it from evil outside of it." Watching the blond haired girl, Gennai smiled as he saw her listing to his every word. "The shield used the power of all seven crests to do it, but now, it's weaker then ever and the loss of a crest power, might cause it break down completely."

Letting the words sink into her mind, Catherine leaned back in the chair with a worried frown on her face. "So, The fact that the crest returned to her means that the Digital world's shield is weaker now."

"Yes, and not just the Digital World." Gennai added as he looked up at the ceiling above him with worry written all over his face. "I fear, that the Real world is also in danger now, and other worlds as well."

"So, the battle continues once more?" Catherine asked as she frowned as well, just as much worry in her face as she looked to Floramon for moral support. "And the boy, Taichi Yagami?"

Gennai, staring into the ceiling, didn't answer her right away as his thoughts hovered over the fact that the boy had simply vanished after escaping from the castle so long ago, but, it was clear now, that something would happen, something he had never hoped to face himself, the records of it had been scary enough as it was. "Out there, alone, when he shouldn't be so."

"Should we try to help him?"

"Yes, but to do so, we have to find him first."

"I see."

--------------------

"Taichi?" Blackgatomon's voice was nothing more then a whisper as she called out for him, her yellow eyes staring around the place as she struggled to get back on her feet, her tail lying limply on the ground. "Taichi, where are you?"

Reaching down a hand as he came rushing up to her, Taichi grimaced as he saw the still growing lifelessness in his digimon partner as she moaned in pain. "Blackgatomon, stop moving, you won't get better if you keep moving around like that." His voice nothing more then a whisper, Tai reached down a hand gently, and petted the black colored head as softly as he could at the moment. "Relax, you have to save your strength, and recover."

Blackgatomon, breathing out deeply, turned her head to stare up at Tai, her yellow eyes focusing on the smiling face looking down at her with an air of complete trust in her recovery. But even in her weaken state; she could see that nervous and uncertain person behind the mask. "Taichi." Using her glove covered paws, she grabbed the hand petting her between them as she slowly turned around, ignoring the flashing pain running through her body. "You must listen to me Taichi."

Pulling gently on his hand, Tai stared a bit scared as Blackgatomon refused to let go of it, her yellow eyes struggling to stare at him became clear when they started to look everywhere but at him. "No, Blackgatomon, you will be okay, you're my partner, and together, we will help the master take over this world."

"No, we won't..." Blackgatomon mumbled out as she lowered her head down to lie o the ground, her paws still holding onto Tai's hand as she coughed a bit. "We won't... because, I won't let you. You don't belong with him." Giving a weak smile, Blackgatomon looked up at Tai as she let go of his hand. "You belong, with you digimon partner, with the other's who will fight against him."

"What are you saying?" Tai gasped out as he lowered his head down to look closer at Blackgatomon, his hands hovering just a bit away form her as he had been just about to grab her and shake an answer form her. "You're my partner, I have the digivice that connects us together, remember?"

Blackgatomon, lowering her head to the ground again, gave a deep sigh as a single tear ran down her cheek. "I'm not your partner, I am not even a digimon." Ignoring the shock outcry form Tai, she gave a sad smile as she curled her tail around her, hoping that it could protect her from the truth. "You have seen them, Imitamon, the soulless creatures who take on the form and powers of other digimons right?"

Feeling colder then he ever had, Tai slowly lowered his hands to his sides as he stared down at his crying digimon partner on the ground. "But... Blackgatomon."

"Blackgatomon." The dark colored feline digimon breathed out as she allowed more tears to run down her cheeks. "If only that was true, but I'm not... I'm just the alpha version of the current Imitamons."

"No, you're my digimon partner." Tai breathed out as he finally gave in and lifted the black cat like digimon up, holding her close as he saw the tears slowly stoop running. "We'll be together, for ever, just like we promised."

Blackgatomon, smiling as she nuzzled in closer to Tai, opened her eyes and looked up at him. "You're warm, and so kind, and strong enough to stand up to anyone." Her breathing turned hard to hear as she lifted up a paw and touched Tai's face gently before she coughed again. "I wish, I really was your partner, but... whoever it is, is out there, waiting for you... waiting to protect you..."

Fighting back against the painful words coming from Blackgatomon, Tai felt tears starting to run down his own cheek as he finally gave in and listen to her, feeling the small doubt hidden away in the deepest pits of his heart coming out into the open. "Blackgatomon."

"I'm sorry... Tai..." whispering out the last words, Blackgatomon felt her paw fall down, as she no longer had the strength to hold it against his cheek. "If you can... please... don't... forget... me..." Dropping completely down, Blackgatomon gave one last sigh as she closed her eyes. "So... Warm...."

Still holding the black colored feline digimon, Tai felt his eyes grow big and as his heart nearly stopped as the color slowly fade away to reveal a Gatomon like body with no color anywhere, then it burst apart into a cloud of digital information, slowly fading away as a cold wind passed through the air. "Blackgatomon? Blackgatomon!"

"Blackgatomon!!"

"Noooooooooooo!!!!"

TBC: A Lost Soul.

AN: Well, I've decided to try to make this story work out after all. But that's not to say that I havewn't decided to make a few changes to it, like redoing a lot of the plot taht was to come as it was simply getting out of hand. I hope this doesn't ruin your hope for the story.


	8. Part VIII

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Summery: AU, very AU and dark, with mentioning of torture, violence and blood drinking.

Taichi's been disowned by the master and barely escaped both his execution and the destruction of his castle as Jun and the Digimon Emperor battled for supremacy of that area. In the battle, the Emperor revealed his new great weapon, Kimeramon. And in the real world, Oikawa Ukyou approached the master with an offer of alliance or destruction.

Special note: {Thoughts}

=============================  
Spawn of the vampire  
Part VII  
A Lost Soul  
=============================

"My brothers what!!" Kari's voice rang out through Gennai's room as the slightly elder digital human looked at her with a sorrow filled expression on his face.

Staring away form the angry expression on Kari face, Gennai sighed as he saw an almost similar expression on the other two DD's faces as they sat around him at the table in the main room. "Yes, well. The Digimon Emperor has wrecked Taichi's castle beyond repair. And while we did have him in our power for a short while, we lost him when the castle fell down around us."

Davis grinned a bit as he leaned in over the table. "So we have one less bad guy to worry about, alright." Looking down at Veemon sitting next to him on the floor, he grinned even more. "So now all we have to do is take down Ken once and for all, no problem."

TK grunted a bit before he turned to face Gennai with a serious expression on his face. "That nice and all, but Gennai, if you knew Kari's brother was in the digital world all along, and that he had Mimi, why didn't you tell us?"

Gennai sighed a bit, as he looked away from the angry glares of the children. "It was necessary. Right now, there are a lot of things happening at the same time. We have the Digimon Emperor, Taichi with his random attacks and enslaving of Digimons, and while he has been defeated, another person has stepped up to take his place already."

Davis grin faltered a bit at the words form Gennai. "So, you saying we haven't really won after all, Aw man." Smashing his hand down on the table, Davis eyes glinted with determination. "Well it doesn't matter, no matter how many they are, we'll defeat them all."

Smiling a bit at Davis outburst, Gennai nodded as he walked over to the computer screen in his room. "Yes well, right now, we have to focus on the Digimon Emperor, I suppose you heard the news from Mimi when she returned to the real world with Matt yesterday?"

"Kimeramon." TK voiced out as he looked at Gennai with a serious expression. "Yeah, and we've already seen what that monster can do."

Gennai nodded as he turned to regard the computer screen. "I have managed tot rack down where his fortress is headed next, it is vital for the future of the Digital World that you stop him."

Nodding at his words, the digi destined children stood up, cuddling their digimons close to them as they began to talk about a plan of attack.

Looking away form Miyako, TK and Davis arguing about a frontal or sneaking attack, Kari stared at Gennai who had turned back to working on the computer. "Gennai, any... idea where my brother might have been headed, if he survived?"

Not answering right away, Gennai slowly turned to look at Kari with a sad expression on his face. "I'm not really sure about it, but there might be a way to find out." Reaching into a pocket on his robe, he slowly stared at her as she walked closer with a curious expression. "Remember all those years ago when you and the others were called into the digital world?"

"Yeah." Kari replied in a slightly hesitant voice as she wondered what that had to do with it. "You said that we had to find an eight child, and have him help us fight Myotismon and the Dark Masters."

Gennai smiled a bit at her as he pushed a few buttons on the keyboard. "You know that there have also been other Digi Destined before you and the others, as well as hundreds of kids around the world today?"

Kari nodded as she thought about their meetings with Willis and Michael in the past. "Yeah, but Gennai, what does this have to do with Tai."

"I've heard of Tai before, long ago in the past." Pulling out his hand, Gennai lifted up a small pink object, which he showed to the young girl. "In fact, this belongs to him."

Staring at object, Kari gasped as she recognized it as one of the same things she and the others had used years ago. "A crest, but Gennai?"

The elder digital human shrugged a bit as he placed the crest in Kari's hand. "It was recovered after something the Guardian Order called the Virus incident."

"Virus Incident?" Kari mumbled out as she held the crest in her hands. "Gennai, what did Tai have to do with it?"

Gennai's smile fell a bit at her question as he turned to watch the computer screen. "Let's just say, it had an outcome that left the Order in a state of turmoil."

"Gennai?" Kari pressed on as she stared at the elder digital human. "Tell me."

Gennai stood still for a few seconds before he gave a small sigh. "We summoned him and another person to the digital world, to stop something we had not expected from happening."

Kari, looking a bit shocked over the fact that her brother had been in the digital world before, had her shaking her head to get her thoughts back on track. "Gennai, this person, who was it, and what did they do in the digital world?"

Giving her a concerned look for a single second, Gennai's shoulder sank down a bit before he walked over to the computer screen, pressing a few buttons on the keyboard, finally stopping as a single picture formed on the screen. "An evil arose in the digital world, at a time when the Dark Master's were still plotting, Etemon and Myotismon hadn't been infected by the darkness and Devimon hadn't even reached his champion level."

Watching Kari's curious look as he spoke, Gennai smiled a bit as he pushed a few buttons to bring up another screen. "The digital world was in a state of tension, we knew a second coming of the darkness would take place, but not when. Then, one day, out fears came true." Pausing a bit, he stepped aside in order for Kari to stare at the picture. "His evil rivaled that of Devimon, but his powers were still in the process of growing. He attacked the still frozen File Island, and began a plot to take control of it with the help of the powers of darkness"

"And you summoned Tai." Kari finished as she stared at the picture of her younger brother riding on a large orange dinosaur like digimons, a similar wild haired girl on a wolf like digimon next to him. Something about her, made her memory blur a bit as she looked closer at the picture "Gennai, that girl, I've seen her before."

"I know who she is." Davis voice cut through the room as he looked from one of them to the other one. "It's my sister Jun, and she also disappeared about 4 years ago, doing the battle with Myotismon." Davis face took on a very dark look as he stared at Gennai and Kari. "And I know she's here, in the digital world."

Watching the reddish brown haired boy as he spoke with a voice barely able to hide his pain, Kari lowered her eyes as she remembered feeling the same kind of pain years ago, back when her brother had been thought to be have been killed by Myotismon. "Davis."

Whatever Kari had wanted to say, was interrupted as Cody came back into the room huffing a bit heavily. "Izzy just sent a mail to us, they've found out where Taichi is."

Forgetting everything else, Kari spun around to face the young boy as he looked up at him. "Where, where is he?" Grabbing his shoulder in a rather painful grip, she glared right into his eyes. "Tell me Cody?!"

"Kari." Davis started as he pulled her hands away from Cody's shoulder when he noticed the slightly painful expression on the young boy's face. "Calm down, will you." Holding her hand a bit, he blushed as he watched her simply stare at it with a trouble expression. "Gennai, where is the Digimon Emperor right now?"

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, Gennai pushed a few buttons on his computer, bringing up a map of the digital world much like the one they used to monitor what areas where under the Digimon Emperor's control.

Tracing a finger across the map, Gennai nodded to himself as he looked from it to a small red dot blinking as it moved slowly across the map. "He'll be passing through another one of the digital worlds cities in a few hours, right here."

Nodding to himself, Davis pulled his goggles out form around his neck and snapped them into place on his head. "Okay, Kari, you go help look for your brother, we and the others will stop Ken from doing anymore damage to the digital world."

Looking up at Davis as she pulled her hand free, Kari smiled a bit as she turned around. "Thanks, Davis." Then she looked over at Cody. "Where is he Cody, where's my brother."

Cody stared at the two other members of the new digi destined before him a bit, before he turned to stare at Gennai. "Izzy said he was spotted just outside a place called Oasis Deen."

--------------------

The digital world spread out before him in all of its glory, the trees moving in the mild wind as he stood on the top of the hill. His cape fluttered in the wind as his eyes moved from the green areas to the smoking ruins in the distance, a look of concern moving through his eyes. "Why, why do I continue to look, Blackgatomon is gone, I lost my position in the master's army." A silence filled the area for a bit, before the messy haired boy took a step down the hill. "So why... Do I continue to search."

Pushing the tree branch out of his way, his eyes moved up to watch the black monolith towering up over him, the material almost humming with the powers of darkness running through it, something he was more then familiar with.

In the distance, the air shimmered a bit as a gel like creature fell down form the nearest tree to land on the ground, it's small eyes moving around before it settled on a nearby flower. "Bio-merge engaged." Stretching out its body, the gel like thing ripped the flower to bits and sucked the digital bits into its body. "Bio-merge complete, body 87 percent stabile."

Turning his head at the sound of someone talking reached him from behidn a bush; Tai stared at it as he tried to figure out whom it was. Pushing the leaves on the bush aside, Tai stopped as he spotted a group of rookie digimon's looking back at him, several of them having a look of disbelief in their eyes. "Hello."

Trying the friendly approach, the messy haired boy blinked as the majority of the digimons started to scream before running away from him. "Hey, wait up!"

"They won't talk with you." Came a bitter voice from one of the two remaining digimons, their eyes looking at him with a mixture of defiance and anger. "We know who you are, Lord Taichi." the word was spat out with a lot of venom in it as the digimon turned to leave, one leg hanging limb under him. "Just leave, no one can defeat the coming darkness, no one."

Looking even more puzzled, Tai turned to regard the other two digimons who had also started to walk away from him. "Wait, at least tell me where I am."

Stopping in his tracks, the lead digimon turned his head around and regarded the boy before him with a lost expression on his face. "It would be too much for you to remember right, this is the village you raided less then a month ago." Looking even more angry and hopeless then before the digimon sat down on the ground. "The few of us who escaped and survive, rebuilt the place, and now, the Emperor and his evil creation, Kimeramon have destroyed it again." Shooting a quick look in the direction that the first digimon had left in. "He was right you know, Darkness cant be stopped. It always returns, now matter how many times you defeat it."

Tai blinked a bit as the digimon gave a bitter and cold laugh, the first hints of insanity clear in the way it moved and spoke as it spoke about the darkness. A fact that sent a cold shiver down the messy haired boy's head as he slowly backed away from the two digimons, the laughter cutting through him as he began to head towards the city.

--------------------

Sitting on the couch in the living room of the apartment, Mimi sighed as one of her parents once more looked in on her, their faces showing nothing but concern that she might end up vanishing again if they left her alone for more then a few minutes. Turning her head to the side, she looked out the window and into the sky line of New York city, the sound of the car's moving through the city clear even from the floor they living on.

Then her eyes moved down to stare at the single thing lying on the table before her, a gold necklace with a pink pendant on the end, a single sign on the surface of it. A sign of the special quality she possessed in a greater amount then the other chosen children, yet, she was finding it hard to figure out how it worked, and how it could work after the last few weeks.

"Sweetie?"

Turning her head, Mimi stared at her mother as she stepped into the living room, the normally cheerful face filled with worry as she walked over to sit in front of her daughter. "Tell me Mimi, please." Seeing the soft look on uncertainty in her daughter's eyes, the elder woman reached out and grabbed her hands. "Please, I want to know, I don't want to feel like this again, tell that you won't just up and leave us like that again. That you will be safe."

Opening her mouth to answer her mother, Mimi closed it again as a new waves of doubt swept through her. "I don't know mommy." Mimi answered as she curled up into a small ball. "Things, are different now, I have to protect the digital world, and this one as well, but I don't know if I can anymore."

Looking more concerned then ever, the elderly woman reached out and grabbed her daughter hand, holding it in silence for a few moments. "Something, happened, to you Mimi." She started as she turned her head to avoid looking at her daughter. "You grew up so fast the last time you vanished, I didn't know how to handle it then, and I still don't know how this time, but please, tell me, Mimi."

Slowly lifting up her head to stare at her mother with a tear filled look, Mimi uncurled as her mother pulled her into a gentle hug. "I'm just so... Confused about it all, he was such a jerk most of the time, but, he was also so nice, and could be so gentle when he wanted."

Staring at her daughter, the elder woman's eyes narrowed a bit at the words she had jus heard. "You two didn't, did you?"

Looking horrified at her mother's words, Mimi pulled out of the hug almost immediately. "No, we didn't, but..." Trailing off, she saw the humorous glint in her mother's eyes and gave a weak laugh. "Nothing like that happened, I promise."

"I know sweetie." Settling down in the couch next to her, the elder woman pulled her daughter into a gentler and less demanding hug, one hand gently rubbing the cinnamon colored hair. "Now, tell me everything you want too sweetie."

Looking up with a real smile on her face again, Mimi slowly nodded as she began to recount what had happened to her since she had seemed to have simply vanished from both worlds. Her mother's face turning dark at the mentioning of her first week as Taichi prisoner, and then the following weeks where he had started to slowly change, her face took on a confused look.

As the story ended, the elder woman sat silently for a few moments before she opened her mouth. "This boy, is he still alive?" The tone of her voice had Mimi sink back a bit in the couch. "Cause if he is, I want to have a small talk with him when you find him. Mainly about how one does not treat my daughter."

Staring at her mother as she sank back further into the couch, Mimi slowly hoped that Taichi wouldn't be showing up anytime soon, both for her own sake, and for the fact that her mother would most likely beat him into a pulp for hurting her, then they would have that little chat she had been talking about. And all of that was if he survived her father's reaction when he found out about it.

Standing up, the elder woman smiled down at her daughter as she slowly turned to walk out into the kitchen. "Sweetie, I think I need a cup of coffee after this, do you want anything?"

"Ah!" Mimi responded as she stood up as well. "Thanks mom, but I think I'd rather go and take a small nap, I feel like I need it." Walking over towards the door leading into her room, Mimi stopped as she stared at her mother in the kitchen doorway, giving a smile to her as looked back as well. "Thanks, for listing to me."

"You're welcome Mimi, and remember." The last words had Mimi freeze in the doorway. "I want to talk with this boy if you and the others find him again, you hear me."

Mimi nodded as she stepped in and closed her door into her room. "Yes Mom"

Sitting in a corner, Palmon sighed as she saw Mimi enter the room, her last few days hiding in the room hadn't been the most pleasant ones as she had been informed by Mimi that her parents wasn't really that fond of digimons, and that they would be more then likely to be less happy to see one after the latest thing involving the digital world.

Stepping out into the open part of the room, her mouth curled into a smile as she spotted the small Lillymon plate hanging above Mimi's bad once more, feeling happy that her partner liked her that much. "Are you, feeling better Mimi."

Looking down at Palmon, the cinnamon haired girl nodded as she sat down on her bed, sighing as she fell back down onto her back to stare up at the white ceiling. "A bit, but I still wonder about all of this."

"I may not like this fascination you have with that boy." Palmon mumbled out as she slowly made her way up onto the pink sheets on the bed. "But, I'll stand behind you no matter what you decide on" The last was added as the plant like digimon dropped onto her back and stared up at the ceiling as well. "Now, do you have anymore of that mineral water?" Her voice taking on a small child's pleading note as she asked.

"Palmon." Mimi sighed out the name as her partner giggled a bit. "I'll go look in a while okay."

The plant digimon nodded with a smile on her face, before she got a small frown on her face. "By the way, Matt mailed you a minute ago."

Opening one eye a bit, Mimi stared at her digimon partner with a rather non-caring and tired expression on her face as she took in the information. "Oh, what did he want anyway?"

Closing her own eyes a bit, Palmon leaned back on the bed and sighed as she went over the message Matt had sent. "They think they got a lead on that guy Taichi." Palmon replied with a bit of a sour note at Taichi's name.

"They what?!" Sitting up in a flash, Mimi stared down at Palmon as the plant digimon went tumbling off the couch. " What, how. Gennai couldn't find him, so how could Matt and the others?"

Palmon looked up at Mimi as she rubbed a small bump forming on her head. "Biyomon noticed him a few minutes ago as she was patrolling her area. And she told Sora who told Matt and Izzy."

Mimi closed her eyes a bit as her hand rested on her lap. "Are they're going after him."

Giving her partner the look, Palmon sighed a bit as she stood up from her awkward position on the floor. "Of course, he hurt you Mimi, and nearly killed Michael." Giving a deep sigh, as Mimi showed no sign of responding to her words, she shook her head a bit. "We have to find him Mimi, what if he become a danger to others again, what if he decide to go after someone else."

Not answering her digimon, Mimi slowly stood up from the bed and grabbed her D-terminal form the floor, clicking it open and reading the message on it with her own eyes. "Come on Palmon." Punching in a response to the mail, she turned to stare at her partner. "We're going to look for him as well."

Looking shocked at the sudden determination in her partner's voice, Palmon lifted up a hand to scratch her head. "Mimi?"

"I have to know Palmon." Mimi responded to the unspoken question as she pulled out her desk drawer and picked up her digivice, holding it one hand while she turned on the computer, the digital gate program bottling up almost at once. "Okay, here we go. Digi Port open!"

Watching her partner as she held the digivice out towards the computer, Palmon looked at the screen as nothing happened to it. "Um, don't you need a D3 to unlock the gate."

Staring at the screen intently, Mimi ignored her partner's question as she focused on getting the damn digital gate to unlock for her. "Come on, Digital Gate open!" Staring at it as nothing happened, her teeth gritted against one another as her temper flared up. "Open damn it!!"

Taken back a bit by her partner outburst, Palmon lifted up a hand to try and get the cinnamon haired teen to cool down a bit. "Mimi, please calm..." she didn't get to say more as a loud beep came from the computer followed the locked symbol on the digital gate changing to the unlocked state. "What?" Then the bright light that always followed a travel to the digital world though a gate engulfed both her and Mimi.

--------------------

The temple entrance had seen better times Tai noted as he looked at it. The crumbling remains of the entrance lying all around him as he looked into the tunnel ahead of him. Luckily for him, the destruction only seemed to have hit the part that he had forced the digimons to find for him the last time he was in the village.

Stepping down the tunnel, he watched the same strange lines and pictures as the last time, the meaning still lost to him as he reached the massive doors leading into the room with the tiger statue. "Why did I come here anyway?" Tai asked himself even as he knew the answer all along.

The master wanted to find the four temples and steal the digi cores from them. And since the master had been the one to order Jun to attack him, Mimi and Blackgatomon, they would both have to pay somehow, and if that meant stealing the Digi Cores before they could, he would do just that.

Stepping in through the open doors, Tai stared around the silent chamber, the tiger statue unnerving him even more as it stood there in a dark room, the only light coming from the doorway behind him. "This is stupid, there's nothing here that can tell me anything." Turing around, Tai froze as something caught his eyes, something he hadn't seen before.

Stepping closer to the statue, Tai stared down at a small plate settled into the ground between the massive paws of the statue. "Friendship, Courage." staring even more puzzled a tit, Tai slowly moved his hand over the plate, the meaning f it not clear to him, even as a small memory seemed to scream at him from just behidn his thoughts about a statue just like it, but in another area. "This place..."

"...Is holy." Came a reply from behind him, causing him to spin around in time to see a small parrot like form only visible as an outline due to the light from behind it. "And you are not welcome here thief."

Stepping back a bit form the one of voice from this digimon, Tai stopped as he noticed something strange about, despite the fact that a lot of digimons that looked like that, it sounded far more used to humans then others. "Hey, you're one of those digimon's belonging to my sister's friends."

Stepping further into the room, the pink bird like digimon crossed its wings as it looked up at him from its position near the door. "That's right, and you're the one who they say died four years ago." Green eyes narrowing a bit, the bird began to flap her wings and fly up into the air. "Sora spent weeks crying over you, telling me how good a friend you were. Now, she's hurting because of your evil actions, now you're going to wait her until she shows up to tell me what to do with you."

Stepping back a bit more, Tai quickly began to look for someplace to hide form the bird digimon, cursing a bit as his last step placed him with his back towards the statue, trapped in that place unless he wanted to try and moved towards one of the sides of it.

Biyomon moved forward again, fully intent on finding out what this strange human boy that Sora had talked so much about was doing, when she suddenly felt a small tugging in her mind, telling her that her partner had entered the digital world, and was heading towards her. "Don't worry, we won't have to wait that long, they'll be here son."

"Uh, wait a minute." Tai said as he began to moved sideways, hoping to be able to make a dash around the pink bird like digimon, as he was not really feeling up to having another run in with his sister and her friends, at least not until he had gotten his thoughts and feelings under control again. "I don't really want..."

Thankfully, he was saved by another digimon entering the room by dropping down onto the floor form the ceiling above them, the green body and purple flower looking so much like Palmon that Tai took anther step back at the memory of the rather hateful way the plant digimon had regarded him in the last time they had met. "Uh, you're not a friend of Palmon are you?"

The digimon smirked a bit before it lashed out with it cactus like arms. "Nemesis Ivy!"

Giving a loud shout of surprise, Tai throw himself to the side as the long wine like fingers of the digimon shot through the air where he had been less then a second ago, a whip like sound filling the air as the ivy finger snapped back to their normal length.

Giving a cry of surprise, Biyomon flew down to land between the human boy and the digimon who had attacked him, her eyes looking at him in an attempt to spot the dark ring it was most likely to have somewhere on its body, feeling a bit of a shock when she failed to spot anyone on his body.

Trying a different approach, Biyomon lowered her defense a bit as she looked closer at the digimon, trying to see if there was any other signs of someone controlling it. "Hey, why are you attacking him?" Biyomon asked while she slowly tried to somehow see if the was something on the digimons back to control without moving out of her protective place in front of the messy haired boy.

Smiling a bit wider, the digimon lifted up its arms over its head as the purple flower there began to vibrate a bit. "Gloom Dust!" Before sending out a large cloud of sparkling dust that covered the area around it before flying over towards Biyomon and Taichi.

Acting quickly and flapping her wings to keep the dust away, Biyomon powered up an attack at the same time, aiming to knock the digimon down without hurting it in anyway. "Spiral Twister!"

Giving a loud cry of pain, the digimon was sent hurtling back through the air to roll across the floor for a short bit. Then it stood back up again, eyes flashing with anger. "Nemesis Ivy!" The wine like fingers shot through the air and caught Biyomon off guard as she had been shooting a look to see if Tai had been hurt by the dust attack.

The pink bird like digimon gave a loud cry of pain as she was smacked into the tiger statue's head rather harshly, the impact making her head snap forward and roll a bit to the side as she was held up against the statue. "Spiral, Spiral..."

Grinning as Biyomon tried to work up enough strength and focus to fire off a counter attack, the plant type digimon wasted no time in letting lose with another one against his helpless foe. "Hungry Hand!"

Giving another loud scream, Biyomon struggled as her strength began to fade, her energy getting drained by the digimon as its wines pulled her closer towards it. "Sora, please, help me."

Watching the bird digimon struggle, Tai's eyes narrowed as he grabbed the first thing he could think off and hurled it towards the digimon, light glinting off the object as it finally smacked into the plant digimons head and down onto the ground with a clanking sound.

Turing its attention away from the bird digimon, the plant digimon stopped draining Biyomon and dropped her back onto the ground as it focused on Tai instead, pulling it's arms back to send out another attack. "Nemesis!"

"Blue Blaster!"

"Super Shocker!"

Giving a loud scream as it was blasted clear through the room and electrocuted halfway there, the digimon slammed into the wall and collapsed in a smoking heap on the ground.

Turning her towards her saviors, Biyomon gave a weak smile as she spotted three humans and two digimons standing in the doorway, her partner giving a cry of distress at the sight of her. "Sora, you came?"

"Of course Biyomon." Sora replied as she pulled her digimon into a hug, taking care not to hurt her anyway more then she already was. Then her head turned to watch the messy haired boy just like all the others did in the room, her smile fading a bit as she recognized the boy she had thought to be dead. "Taichi?"

Not answering, Tai turned his stare from the familiar orange haired girl to the other two, the boy with the laptop looking a little puzzled as he looked back, the same couldn't be said about the blond haired boy though as his hands were clenched up and he looked like he was struggling hard to keep his emotions under control. "I..."

Not wasting time, Matt stepped forward and pushed Izzy aside as he tried hard not to punch the boy before him right then and there. "Can it, we're here to bring you back to earth, where we'll decide what to do with you." Glaring a bit at Taichi, he snorted a bit. "Just be lucky your sister and Sora asked me not to hurt you, or you'd be getting dragged back home unconscious"

Glaring back as his own anger rose up, Taichi felt his fists clench up at his side, a deep urge to punch that superior smirk off the blond haired idiot's face starting to overpower him. "Really, but what if I don't want to go anywhere with you, then what?"

"This!" Matt yelled out as his fragile hold on his anger failed, his right fist scoring a direct hit right on Taichi's right cheek, snapping his head to the side. "Got any other smart remarks, cause I could need a reason to punch you some more."

Turing his head back and rubbing the bruise forming, Tai felt his eyes narrow as his body screamed out for him to beat the blond haired boy into a bloody pulp, the fact not getting helped one bit as the virus started to wake up again from all of the negative emotions.

Staring at the sight of the two boys glaring death at one another, Sora stood up and quickly marched over to stop the fight before it broke out.

"Matt." Sora voice cut through the tension filled air as she pulled him back, staring from his angry blue eyes to the narrowed brown eyes of Taichi, shivering a bit at the look of hate burning in them. "Look Taichi." Hesitating a bit as she tired to think of a way to calm down the brown haired boy, she slowly pulled him away from Matt. "We just want to help you, that's all."

Looking at the girl, Taichi felt his anger subside, now that he was no longer faced with that blond haired idiot. Still, he felt a bit unnerved by the fact that she was standing next to him, after such a long time. "Sora?" putting out the name in a questioning manner, Taichi slowly turned around to face her better. "Help me, I, I don't need help."

Pushing his way back into the conversation, Matt glared form Sora to Taichi, one fist still clench up at his side as he debated if he should pull Sora away form the messy haired boy. "I don't care how you feel about, I'm going to drag you back to Earth no matter what." Ignoring Sora's shocked expression at the anger in his voice, he reached out and removed her hand from Tai's shoulder. "Forget it Sora, there's no way I'm leaving him here, who knows what he'll do."

Stepping back a bit to get out of ranger from the blond haired buffoon, Taichi snorted a bit as he turned to leave. "Think what you will, I'm leaving, there's nothing here anyway."

"No you're not." Matt snapped as he reached out and pulled Tai back, his free hand moving out to block the sudden punch Tai threw at him when he turned around. "Taichi Yagami, I'm arresting you on behalf of all the digimons you have hurt in your time here." snapping down the hand he had pulled Tai back with, he grabbed the black and orange D3. "You won't be needing this again, cause there's no way you will be let into the digital world again."

Looking shocked at the sudden outburst from Matt, Sora looked over towards Izzy for help, but all she saw was a look of indifference as he opened up his laptop. "Izzy, Matt, what are you two doing?"

Turning his head to face her, Matt sighed a bit. "Look Sora, I know that he was your friend in the past, but he worse then Ken, he hurt not only digimon's, but our friends, and I refuse to show him any kindness for that." Looking over at Izzy, he lifted up his own digivice. "Is the gate ready Izzy?"

The spiky haired boy with the laptop nodded as he looked over at Sora. "I'm sorry, but you have to admit he's a monster, you saw what he did to Michael, we all did." Turning his head to face Matt, Izzy held the laptop out. "The gate's open Matt, take him back to earth and we'll finish here."

Stepping forward to protest once more, Sora froze as she spotted a movement out of the corner of her eyes as something green stood up and lashed out towards. "Izzy, Look out!"

The plant digimon growled as it woke up, its eyes blinking a bit as it watched the group of humans and three digimon's before it. Then it smirked when it noticed none of them was keeping an eye on it. Wobbling up to its full height, it lashed out its arms and attacked. "Nemesis Ivy!" Scoring a direct hit as the boy was wrapped up tightly, making him lose that weird thing he had been holding.

Moving its wines to the side, the plant digimon crackled a bit, as it slammed the red haired boy into the orange haired girl who had tried to warn the red haired boy. Watching them tumbled back onto the floor, the plant digimon turned it's attention to the only to humans still standing up. "Hungry!"

"Gabumon!" Matt yelled out as he turned to face the attacking digimon, watching as his partner digimon as well as Sora's and Izzy's rushed to stop the digimon from attacking again. It wasn't until he felt the sudden flare of pain on his cheek, that he remembered the messy haired boy he had been holding just a second ago.

The world turned red in Taichi's eyes as his anger flooded him, and the virus order to hurt the blond haired boy became to much as he was sudden free of that jerk's grip on his hand. The first punch hadn't clamed him down even if it sent the other boy's head to the side, it was the kick right into the stomach and the follow up double fisted punch to his back that smashed him into the ground that made him feel better.

"Tai!"

"Taichi!"

Stepping back as he felt someone knock him back, he stared up at the shocked expressions on Sora's face and Izzy's. Then he turned around and ran, not caring to see the digimon lose it's color and turn into an Imatamon before bursting into digital data. All he cared about was getting as far away from the other three as he could.

Watching him run away, Izzy turned to face Sora as she sat down next to Matt who was struggling to get back up again, a small drop of blood falling from a split lip. "Now what?"

Narrowing his eyes, Matt glared at him form where he sat on the ground. "Go after him, don't let him get away." At he spat out the order, he stared up at Sora, daring her to disobey, then she slowly nodded and followed Izzy out off the room, Tentomon and Biyomon right behind her.

Getting out the hole leading down into the temple, Taichi wasted no time in starting to run away from it. The need to put more distance between him and the others growing with each passing second that he spent there, only to stop as he spotted someone standing before him, someone he knew all too well, someone he couldn't hurt to get away, she meant too much to him to do that.

Watching the messy haired boy who had held her prisoner for a week, hurt her and then turn her into a vampire running right towards her, Mimi slowly moved her fingers away from her digivice as she saw the scared look in his eyes when he noticed her and stopped. "Taichi?"

Stepping back as she spoke, Tai turned to leave, stopping as he spotted Izzy and Sora standing there, their digimons ready to defend them if came down to it. "No." Turning in another direction, he froze as he spotted a familiar looking man in a robe and a blond haired girl standing there, both of them having a concerned look on their face as they watched him, the sight of them making him step back as he held out his hands in front of him. "Get away from me."

Stepping forward, Mimi held out a hand towards him. "Taichi, please, we can help you, but only if you let us." Looking over at Sora and Izzy, she silently begged them to stand down from their aggressive stand. Then she returned her attention to Tai as he stared back at her. "Please."

"I." Mumbling out the single word, Tai turned his head to look in the one direction where he was sure that he could escape too, only to have his hope crushed as another familiar person stood there. The wind playing with her hair in a gentle way as she looked at him with a mixture of emotions in her eyes and face. "Kari..."

Watching the boy before her, Kari slowly stepped up too him, and lifted up a hand to brush back one of the bangs of hair falling down over his head. "It is you, Tai." Wrapping her arms around his mid section, she burrowed her head into chest. "I missed you so much, how could you hurt us like that?"

Slowly lowering his head, Tai stared at the girl hugging him. "Us, what do you mean Kari?" A small throbbing pain starting in the back of his head a she was forced to deal with not only the appearance of his beloved queen, but someone, who he had never been able to hurt, not even under the influence of the virus.

"Us silly." Kari replied as she looked up at him with a tear in her eye. "Me, and Mom, and Dad. You're my big brother Taichi, when I thought I had lost you, I, I."

Slowly moving his arms, Taichi hugged her back, unsure of why he felt like a big jerk for putting her through so much emotional pain. "I'm, I'm sorry." The last was spoken out as he glanced up at Mimi for a brief moment before returning his attention to his sister. "I'm so sorry."

Slowly walking over and placing her hand on his shoulder, Mimi stared at Tai as a smile crept up on her face. "It's okay, at least you're here now, and we can help you." Smiling even more, she looked down at Kari who nodded at her words. "You'll be back to your good old self again."

Closing his eyes as a small tear ran down his cheek, Tai slowly lowered his head to rest on Mimi's hand as he hugged his sister as gentle as he could. "Thank you."

Watching the small group from where he stood, Gennai frowned a bit as he turned his head to look out into the distance of the digital world. {They did it, they beat the virus corrupting him, it's not gone, but it will be completely in time.} Looking back at Tai, Mimi and Kari who had broken out of the hug and were talking about something, he smiled a bit at the sight of it.

Catherine slowly turned her head to look up at Gennai, a slightly concerned look in her face. "Gennai, what about the other one?"

Turning his head to face her, Gennai shrugged a bit. "Time will tell, but if the Digi Destined could calm the virus to this level, I'm sure they can save her as well."

Getting a relive look on her face, Catherine turned her attention back to the group, watching as Sora slowly approached the messy haired boy who had turned his head to watch her. "I'm glad to hear that."

"Yes." Gennai replied as he closed his eyes. "But, things might be different when it comes down to the master himself."

Turning her head to stare at Gennai, Catherine's eyes grew a bit big at the way Gennai had uttered the last word. "Master?"

Narrowing his eyes in a sudden tension filled expression, Gennai sighed a bit. "Taichi, Jun, they're nothing more then pawns, someone else is behind this." Eyes still narrowed, Gennai turned around to watch the horizon again. "They are simply infected with the virus, the one who infused them with it, is out there somewhere."

Catherine sighed as well. "So the battle isn't over."

Listing to her words, the digital human standing a bit in front of her as they stared into the horizon lifted up his hands to grab the hood on his robe. "Catherine, you have done your part, if you don't wish to fight anymore, I can understand it."

"I wish that fighting wouldn't be necessary, but, if there's ever a need for my help, I will be there." Catherine replied to Gennai as he finished speaking.

--------------------

The computer screen showing the happy scene between the digi destined and Taichi, shattered as a fist slammed through it with a scream of pure anger behind it. "How, how it could have failed"

Putting down his teacup at the outburst from his allied partner, Oikawa raised an eyebrow as he stood up from the couch, his eyes watching the scene before him with a look of infinite patience. "Calm down."

Spinning around, the master glared at Oikawa as he clenched up his hands at his side, the urge to hurt someone running through him with a stronger feel then ever before. "Don't tell me what to do, you hear me." Pointing a finger at the human before him, the master snarled a bit. "If Taichi tells them everything he knows, I will be hunted down by the digi destined and our plan is ruined."

"True." Oikawa mumbled out as he turned to look out a window and into the Odaiba skyline, his hand rubbing his chin a bit as he turned back to face the master again. "How much does he know about your real identity?"

Eyes narrowing a bit in thought, the master rubbed his own chin as he walked over to join his allied at the window. "Not much, I told him my first name once, but other then that, nothing other then what he needed to know."

Oikawa took in the information as he placed his hands on the window still. "So the damage is not as big, all he can tell them is a name, if he can even remember that, and where you live in the real world." Lifting up a hand, Oikawa grinned darkly as he snapped his fingers. "Mummymon, Arukenimon."

"Yes sir?" Jumping up from their place in the living room couch, the two digimon's hiding in their human disguise looked towards their master, Mummymon still holding onto his coffee cup as he stood up.

Turning around and crossing his arms on his back, Oikawa gave a smile at them as he walked over to the table to stared at them both in turn. "Now, I want you to pack up everything in this place, clothes, computer, all the stuff you can carry."

"What?" The master spat out as he turned to regard Oikawa with a look of anger on his face again. "What do you think you're doing? That is." Stopping, that master stared at the hand, which Oikawa had lifted up to stop his rant.

Waiting a single second as he gave the impression of thinking, Oikawa opened his eyes as a smile crept back onto his face, making the master a bit uncomfortable. "Relax, we're simply changing addresses, the Digi destined will come here and find nothing that can tell them of the plan."

Nodding a bit at Oikawa explanation, the master got a smile of his own a she looked up at the two digimons. "I see, very well, this way you two." Walking over to the computer, he stared at the screen for a bit. "Guess we won't be needing that anymore." Turning his head to look over his shoulder, he focused on the digimon looking like a one eye human in a blue trench coat. "Mummymon, carry the computer, Arukenimon, come with me."

Watching the master hand out orders to his digimon's, Oikawa smiled a bit as he turned back to regard the outside through the window. "Yes, nothing will stop me from going to the digital world, nothing, not even the digi destined." Grinning a bit, it soon turned into a full blown dark laugh, as he turned away from the window, to watch Mummymon struggled to hold onto the large computer and some other stuff Arukenimon had tossed at him. "Hurry up you idiot, we need to be out of here as soon as possible"

Looking up as Oikawa snapped at him, Mummymon nodded as he began to struggle towards the door with a rather large pile of stuff on top of the computer in his arms. The words "Why is always me that has to do the heavy lifting around here?" Could be heard coming from him as he stepped out of the door.

Looking at his remaining digimon servant in the apartment standing with the master, Oikawa walked over to join them. "Arukenimon, I want you to join forces with Jun Motomiya, if that's okay with you." The last was aimed at the master who had looked up from getting all his personal papers together.

"Of course." came the reply as he returned to packing up the remaining papers. "She can keep an eye on her to make sure Motomiya won't suffer from the same lack of obedience as Yagami did."

Smiling a bit at the order, Arukenimon nodded at Oikawa. "As you wish, and if the digi destined get in our way, I'll take them out for good."

TBC.

AN: Did a rewrite of the chapter as I didn't like the way the story where going with the plot I had decided on, so expected a few more twists to the story before I reveal the master's identity, and it won't the "he is Gennai's evil brother thing."

There, another chapter of this story done, and in what can almost be considered record time for one of this length. Now, don't hold back on those reviews, as I want to know if you readers agree with how I had Tai return to the forces of good.


	9. Part IX

---

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Summery: AU, very AU and dark, with mentioning of torture, violence and blood drinking.

Taichi's been disowned by the master and barely escaped both his execution and the destruction of his castle as Jun and the Digimon Emperor battled for supremacy of that area. In the battle, the Emperor revealed his new great weapon, Kimeramon. And in the real world, Oikawa Ukyou approached the master with an offer of alliance or destruction.

Special note: {Thoughts}

============================  
Spawn of the vampire  
Part VIII  
Times of Darkness  
============================

The desert looked a bit calmer, as the Digi Destined crowed together around the messy haired boy as he broke out of the hug he had had with Mimi and Kari. A slight blush on his face as he turned to regard the other kids crowding in around them.

"Taichi?" Sora spoke as she stepped closer; one hand reached out to grab his shoulder, testing to make sure that it wasn't a dream. That one of her best friends really was back among them again. "You can't guess how much I've missed you for the last four years." Then she grew a bit tense as she noticed Matt turn his head away from them. "It's been a long time, and Tai." Reaching out a hand, she pulled Matt over to them. "I want you to meet Matt, he's my boyfriend, and one of the oldest Digi Destined."

Staring at Matt, Tai gave a weak smile as he could partly recognized the blond haired boy as someone who he had seen fighting the digimons four years ago, as well as that giant digimon VenomMyotismon. Reaching out a hand, Tai looked over at Sora in time to see an expectant look on her face. "HI, I'm Taichi."

"I know who you are." Matt replied a bit icily as he looked down at the hand held out towards him, not shaking it as he turned to stare at the rest of the group for a few seconds before looking back at Tai. "And it's, nice to have you back to the good side."  
  
Giving a puzzled expression at the blond haired boy as he turned and left. Tai shot a quick look over at his sister to see her shake her head a bit. "So, is the rest of your team like that?"

Stepping up and looking at the messy haired boy, Izzy nodded as he pulled out his lab top and opened it up. "It is fascinating to meet you. I've heard a lot about you from your sister and friends." Poking a finger at Tai's shoulder, Izzy nodded a bit to himself as he quickly inputted some data on his computer. "If you don't mind, I would like to do some test to see what this virus thing is that's infecting you."

Looking up at the words from the red haired boy, Kari quickly pulled Tai back a bit and glared at Izzy. "He's not going to do any tests until he's back home again, and have gotten a chance to relax and meet mom and dad."

Holding up a hand in front of him, Izzy backed off a bit at her tone of voice. "Of course, it's just." Shooting a quick look over at Mimi, Izzy looked away again when he noticed her staring at him as well, with a less unfriendly look. But still looking a bit upset "I couldn't get Mimi to agree, and I really want to know more about it."

Off to the side, Matt shook his head as he turned to face Sora who stared at the scene with a smile on her face. "I still don't trust him." The words making the girl look at him. "Who's to say he won't go evil on us again."

Looking a bit unsure about it as well. Sora looked over at the three smiling kids talking as they began to walk off. "We can't, all we can do, is trust him for now." It pained her to say it, but there was a chance Matt could be right.

Laughing a bit at some comment Mimi had made about Tai's cape. Kari stopped as a beeping sound called her attention away from hearing Tai reply. Pulling out her D-terminal, she plopped it open and stared at the message on it. "Guys, we have to go now, the other's are in trouble. The Digimon Emperor's got them trapped in a sewer."

Snapping his head around. Matt stared at the small girl with a dark expression on his face. "TK." Then he looked towards the place where Gennai had been. Seeing it empty, he turned back to the group. "Okay, we need to help TK and the others. Izzy, try and come up with a plan for, Kari, Gatomon is the only digimon who can armor digivolve. So we need you." Facing Tai, Sora and Mimi, Matt eyes stayed on the messy haired boy for a few seconds. "Sora, Mimi, our digimons can't digivolve as long as there is a control spire nearby, but we need all the help we can. If nothing else, we might be able to distract him."

Looking at the blond haired boy handing out order, Tai smirked a bit. Then he frowned as he looked over at Kari, seeing the traces of doubt in her eyes as she looked between Matt and him. "Kari, help him, don't worry about me. I'll stay back here and wait for you."

"No you're not." Matt added in as he looked at Tai. "No offense. But I just don't trust you." Turning to face Sora and Mimi again, he sighed a bit. "You two, keep an eye on him, just in case."

Watching the blond walk off, Tai stared at Mimi and Sora, watching them as they two different expressions on their faces. One who had a bit of hesitation in her eyes as she smiled, and the other who looked sorry about the words Matt had spoken. "So, where we going."

"Tai." Kari yelled out as she looked over at him. "You can ride with Izzy on Kabuterimon." Pulling out her D-terminal and D3, Kari stared at her brother. "If you want to that is."

Staring at Sora and Mimi, Tai gave a short nod before he walked over to his little sister. Staring down at the white feline digimon at her feet, freezing up as he noticed just whom she looked like. "Kari, that digimon."

Looking down at her partner, Kari smiled grew a bit bigger. "Oh, this is my partner digimon, her names Gatomon." At her introduction, Gatomon tails gave a small twirl as she looked at Tai. "Okay, are you ready."

Shaking his head a bit, Tai nodded as he looked at the others. And tried to forget just how much jis little sister's digimon partner had looked like Blackgatomon. A pain shooting through him at the though of his last few moments with her, and her last words when she had, died.

Of to the side, Mimi noticed the trouble expression on Tai's face and turned to regard Palmon at her feet. "Palmon, where do you think Blackgatomon is?"

Giving a startled jump at Mimi's question, Palmon regarded the sight of Tai and Kari and blinked. She had hardly noticed it, but Mimi was right. She hadn't seen Blackgatomon at all, not since the last few moments at the castle. "You think she?"

"I don't know." Mimi mumbled out as she lifted up her digivice. "But I think it would be best if we asked him about it later." Turning around, she looked at Sora. "Ready?"

Nodding, the four digimons stood at their partners' feet. "Let's go." Gabumon spoke out as he looked at Matt.

Smirking at his partner's words, Matt held out his digivice. "Digivolve!" At his yell, a bright light shot out form it, as well as that of Izzy and Sora's.

"Gabumon Digivolve too, Garurumon!"

"Tentomon Digivolve too, Kabuterimon!"

"Biyomon digivolve too, Birddramon!"

Pushing open her D-terminal, Kari looked at the outline of th digiegg of light forming on thes mall screen. "Digi Armor energize!" Her digivice shooting out a beam of light to hit the digiegg of light as it emerged from her d-terminal.

"Gatomon, Armor digivolve too, Nefertimon, the angel of light!"

Staring at the much larger champion level digimon's, Tai looked over at the red haired kid as he crawled up on the back of the insect digimon. "Come on, it perfectly safe."

Looking at the hand held out towards him, Tai slowly nodded as he crawled up on the back of the digimon. "Thanks." Mumbling out the word, he pulled his hand out the younger boy's.

Giving a smile at the messy haired boy, Izzy watched as he found the best way to sit of Kabuterimon's back. "You're welcome." Nodding a bit at the other boy's word, Tai grinned a bit. "If you don't mind." Izzy started as he pulled out his lab top and placed it in front of him. "That digimon back there in the cave, just what kind was it, I've never see one delete in such a fashion before."

Looking a bit unsure, Tai looked around to see that the others had gotten onto their digimons and where ready to leave as well. Turning back to face the red haired boy, Tai saw him still waiting for an answer patiently. "I don't really know much about them, but I can tell you what I do know."

"Excellent." Came the reply from Izzy as he pushed a few buttons on his lab top.

-------------------- 

Several digimons screamed as they ran for their lives in a brightly lit street. A dark shadow falling over their heads and village as beams of destruction shot down at them. The carnage followed by a rain of dark rings and dark spirals on the survivors who escaped the carnage.

At the front line of this carnage flew a monstrous digimon. It's eyes glinting with joy of the destruction it caused, the darkness in its spirit and body growing as it sought to overpower the control of its master. And failed as it had many times, but, for each time it tried, the control of its mind and actions, grew just a bit weaker, and his own will gained more control of his body. "Heat Viper!"

A beam of sickly green fire shot through the air as the words rang out. Its target exploding with a cloud of smoke and normal looking fire, the mess reaching up to join the other pillars of smoke and fire, in the remains of what had once been a digital city behind the monster flying through the air.

Behind the digimon, came a object the likes of which no digimon could remember ever having seen before. Something they would describe as a floating rock, easily the size of small villages, and as tall as a skyscraper. Metal and glass glinting from various places on the rocky surface, the black surfaces reflection the light of destruction below.

And looking down at the carnage form atop his flying fortress, The Digimon Emperor, also known as Ken laughed as he watched the destruction being dealt to the digital world, his prize creation living up to all of his expectations. Already he had secured at least 10 percent more land that he normally would in a single day. And that was just in one hour.

But the real test of his creation lay ahead of him. Standing on a tall hill reaching up towards him, each of their faces showing a grim determination as their armor digimon lined up before them. "Come on Digi Destined, Haven't I already showed you just how worthless you are." Giving a dark laugh at his small private joke. the Digimon Emperor settled down in his chair. Calling up his control panel. "Kimeramon, Show the Digi Destined who's boss."

Giving a roar of obedience, the synthetic digimon flew out of the sky, heading towards the armor digimons on the ground before him, a lust for destruction slowly growing inside of him as he approached. He would enjoy crushing these digimons, and all the others in the digital world as well.

On the ground, Davis, TK, Yolie and Cody watched as the Digimon Emperor's fortress and Kimeramon approached. A dark look on the two oldest boys as they watched the level of destruction left behind, A look of shock on the purple haired girl's face as she witnessed it, while one of pure anger had formed on the youngest member of the little group.

Clenching his hand, Davis looked at the three next to him. "We have to stop this, right now." Turning his face back to look at the burning village, he watched, as Kimeramon seemed to focus his attention on them. "We can't let the Digimon Emperor and his sideshow monster continue to do this."

Next to him, TK nodded as he concentrated his eyes on the upper arms of the synthetic monster. Feeling a cold pit forming in his stomach as he easily recognized them. "I agree, there won't be anything left of the digital world if we don't stop them right here."

"Do you think we stand a chance?" Yolie mumbled out as she watched the digimon four hands clench open and close again as it came closer. "It destroyed the village so easily."

Next to her, Cody glared at the monster as he clenched his hands, His nails cutting into the flesh of the palms, almost deep enough to draw blood. "I can't believe he went this far, to create something like that." Eyes flashing, Cody turned to face his digimon partner with looked up at the flying digimon with a look of, concern. "Digmon, you have to defeat him, we can't let him continued to destroy the digital world."

"Relax." Raidramon mumbled out as he stepped closer to the edge of the hill. His eyes focused on Kimeramon as he came closer to them. "We beat all the other digimons the emperor sent out way, so we can defeat this one with no problems."

Spreading out his wings and kicking up some dirt, Pegasusmon stepped up next to the blue armored digimon. "Wish I could agree with you, but that digimon has the parts of some of the strongest and toughest digimons around." Watching the fortress behind it, the horse like digimon shuddered. "And who knows what the emperor will throw at us as well."

Flying in the air just above them. Halsemon stared silently at the digimon with a concerned look on his face. Already feeling some of the digimons power. "No matter what he is, we must stop this madness before it spreads any further."

"I agree." Digmon added in as he watched Kimeramon closely. And it looks like we will get a chance to prove ourselves against him right now." Turning his head to watch the kids behind him, Digmon stared at his partner silently for a second before he finally spoke. "Cody, all of you. get out of here, we don't know how dangerous he is, and I'd rather not take any chances."

"Right." Came the reply from the four kids as they moved towards the safest place around.

Inside of his control room, the Digimon Emperor smirked as he watched the kids leave the hill, their digimon's remaining behind as Kimeramon move din for the attack. "Heh, looks like the kids knows the fate their digimons are in for." Laughing a bit at it, the Digimon Emperor pushed a few buttons on his control panel. "I must remember to record this battle, it's going into my video collection along with all of my other victories. This way, I can enjoy it over and over again." Standing up of his chair, the Digimon Emperor's eyes flashed as he watched the screens around him. "Finally, with the brats out of the way, no one can threaten me anymore, this world is mine, all mine!"

Sitting on the edge of light cast by the screens. A small green digimon looked up at his partner with a sad expression on his face. The eyes showing a deep concern and fear for the human boy as he laughed. "Oh Ken, is this really what you want?"

Attacking as one. The four armor digimons flew or ran towards the approaching Kimeramon. Their determination growing with each step or bit if air the moved through. "Now!" Raidramon yelled out as his back and horn alit with pure arches of electricity. "Lightning Blast!"

Flapping his wings and lowering his head, Pegasusmon fired off a green triangle shaped beam from his helmet. "Equus beam!"

At the same time, Halsemon eyes glowed bright red before two arrowed shaped beams shot out and right towards Kimeramon's head. "Eagle Eye!"

On the ground, Digimon pointed all of his drills at the evil digimon and fired them all off at once. "Gold Rush!"

Impacted right on his head or upper chest. Kimeramon roared as he was covered in a cloud of smoke, which quickly faded away as he shot through it, laughing at the weak attempts by the armor digimons to hurt him, Kimeramon simply hovered in the air for a second before he opened his mouth. Poison green fires already flicking around his sharp teeth. "Heat Viper!"

Shooting right the air, the green fire passed by Pegasusmon and Halsemon, the two digimons dodging it in time, but not the power radiating out from the beam as it flew past them. The air rippled and rose to searing heights as the two digimons gave a cry of pain and shock.

On the ground, Raidramon and Digmon stared wide-eyed on the beam as it hurled towards them. "Scatter!" Yelling out the command at the same time, the two digimon turned and fled as fast as they could. Sand and rocks hammering into them as the ground exploded from Kimeramon's attack.

High above the ground, Pegasusmon restored his flight and turned to face Kimeramon again. "Such a level of power." Then he flew up in the air again, flapping his wings as he tried another one of his attack. "Star Shower!"

Moving out his nose dive, Halsemon shot up in the air, aiming right form the lower parts of Kimeramon, powering up an attack as he shot through the air with a loud whine. "Tempest Wing!"

Once again the attack hammered into the evil digimon, hiding him for a bit as a small twister roared into life form Halsemon's attack around him. Then it was blown apart as another beam of green fire shot through the air.

"They're not doing so well are they?" Yolie asked as she watched Halsemon and Pegasusmon escape another attack form Kimeramon. Her hands clasped together in front of her as she looked at Davis, TK and Cody.

TK didn't look away from the battle as he answered her. Not wanting to miss anything. "I'll say, they're getting creamed."

Sticking his head up over their hiding place, Davis shot a clenched up fist into the air as he watched his digimon rush towards the battle again. "Go Raidramon, show that digimon who boss."

"Should we pull back TK?" Cody's voice broke in as he watched Digmon pull himself free of the sand and rocks, the yellow colored armor on the digimon looking a bit worse then ever before. "They attack him all at once, and it didn't even slow him down."

Biting his lip as he stared away from the battle, TK reached down a hand towards his belt. "We might have to." Lifting up his D-terminal, he gasped and looked up as Pegasusmon fell down from the sky again. "Okay, I'm telling Kari about this, and then we get the heck out of here."

Turning around at the statement form TK, Davis eyes flashed as he looked at them. "Run away from a battle. We can't just let that digimon continue to rampage through the digital world like that, he'll." Seeing the look in TK eyes, Davis nodded as he turned back to the battle scene. "Okay, we're drawing back for now and." Freezing, Davis stared in muted shock at the battle scene. "Raidramon, no!"

Looking up at his yell, TK, Yolie and Cody stared at the scene before them. Feeling the same level of horror as Davis was suffering from. "No." TK breathed out as he quickly punched in a message and get ready to hit the send button when his attention was drawn away by the battle.

In the air, Pegasusmon were still falling when he felt something grab his back legs in a crushing grip, then the air and world rushed sideways as he was flung around and used to batter Halsemon with, the impact sending a wave of pain through his body as he dropped from the sky and onto the ground. Glowing brightly upon impact, he returned to his Togemon form.

Next him, Poromon groaned as he struggled to sit up as well, his body wrecked by the same feeling of pain. Stopping as he dropped back down onto the round. A feeling of regret going through him as he saw Kimeramon pass over them.

"Thunder blast!"

"Gold Rush!"

The two attacks hit Kimeramon right on and had the evil digimon turn its attention away from Tokomon and Poromon . The air heavy with tension as the evil digimon rushed towards them. "Heat Viper!"

Giving a loud cry of surprise, Raidramon jumped out of the way, running in a wide circle towards the place where Poromon and Togemon had landed, stopping when he reached them. "You two okay?" Looking over his shoulder, he saw Kimeramon roar our in frustration as Digimon used his drills to move underground. "Think you're up to doing a retreat?"

"Look." Togemon whispered out as he pointed one of his legs up into the air, his eyes opening and closing a bit as he focused on something coming towards them.

Turning his head, Raidramon watched as a Devidramon flew into view. A young messy haired boy standing on the back, dressed in a blue, white and gold colored outfit. "The Digimon Emperor!"

Smirking at the yell from the digimon, the Digimon Emperor held out the hand not holding his whip, making his cape flash out in a dramatic way. "Correct, and now digi brats, you and your pets have been defeated." the Digimon Emperor stopped his speech as he watched the three boy and one girl ran up to their digimons, the blond and purple haired ones of them grabbing their partners. "As I was saying, you are defeated, but, I'm in a good mood today, so if you surrender now, and I will allow you to leave the digital world, on the conditions that you never return, this is my world, and I will defend it from inferior beings like you anyway I can."

Glaring up at the Digimon Emperor as he finished speaking, Davis felt his eyes narrowed. "Never, I will never surrender to you, come on Ken, can't you see what you're doing is wrong."

Next to him, TK nodded as he held Togemon close, feeling the small body shake a bit. "Yeah, digimon's a living creatures, and you can't just enslave them."

Nodding as she looked at Poromon 's wings. Yolie looked up with anger. "And who said it was okay for you to create your own digimon, don't you have enough in your partner digimon."

Just giving the Digimon Emperor a cold, indifferent look, Cody stared from him to Kimeramon and back again. "I didn't think you could anymore evil, but this time, I don't think I will ever forgive you for all you have done, even... "

"Silence!" Roaring out the word, the Digimon Emperor glared down at each of the digi destined. "I am the digimon Emperor, and this is my world. I can do what I want to with it, and as for my partner, I don't need him, not as long as I have, Kimeramon." Eyes narrowing as he finished laughing after his little speech, the Digimon Emperor turned around slowly. "But, since you won't surrender, I have no choice but to throw you out of the digital world by force, Kimeramon!"

"Rock Cracking!"

Eyes growing wide at the sudden yell, the Digimon Emperor stared in shock as the ground simply crumbled away under the digi destined feet's, sending a shower of dirt and rubble up as they vanished. "No, how could they escape." Staring down, the messy haired boy focused on the rather wide hole in the round. "Heh, hiding underground like the rats they are, Kimeramon chase them out."

Moving over to the hole, the huge digimon glared down at it and growled. Then looked up at the burning village around them, not really feeling like chasing after the weaklings when he could be destroying the rest of the place instead.

"Kimeramon!" The digimon Emperor's voice rang out as the cracking sound of a whip filled the air. Glaring at the digimon, Ken smirked as it slowly turned back to stare at the hole. "Good, now show them who's boss!"

Opening his mouth, Kimeramon felt the fire flick across his teeth, shooting out to form a pure beam of destruction. "Heat Viper!"

Behind Kimeramon, the Digimon Emperor laughed as the green fire lighted up the hole. "Yes, there's no way they could have missing seeing that, no way." Then he looked down at his D3, as a loud beeping sound filled the air. "What, they should be coming out here, so how come I can track them running away?" Looking at the four white dots moving away from him and Kimeramon, his eyes narrowed as he looked down at the hole. "A tunnel." Then he smirked. "Well, looks we'll have to root out a few rats."

Down below the street, Yolie, TK, Davis and Cody stared around at the brick covered walls they were running past, while trying to ignore the smell of the water running in a canal in the middle of the tunnel. Above them, they could hear the faint sounds of several buildings falling down as the Digimon Emperor continued his rampage. Reaching a larger round room with tunnels running off in three more directions, they stopped to catch their breath.

"I can't believe we lost." Davis spat out as he punched the wall, his anger clearly showing as he punched the wall a second time.

Gasping for her breath, Yolie turned to look at Poromon with a concerned look, picking him up after she had caught her breath. "They couldn't even hurt that digimon." Voice shaking a bit, she looked up at the brick covered ceiling. "How can we hope to stop that thing if we can't even slow him down."

Looking down at the muddy brown water, Cody sighed a bit as he turned to face Digmon. "Looks like Ken wins after all, our digimons simply aren't strong enough to stop him."

Eyes narrowing at their words, Davis turned away form the wall and stared at them. "No. I refuse to give up, there has to be some way of winning. I won't stop fighting until we have won"

"Davis." TK started to say, as he looked at the messy haired boy, his hands clenched up at his side. Patamon resting on his head just like he had in the old days. "I agree with you, but right now we have to think of ourselves." Seeing the protest in Davis eyes, TK sighed. "We can't fight him with only half of our team, we need all of our teams to win this."

Staring at the blond haired boy, Davis bit his lip in order to hold back another protest. TK was right, but it felt wrong to just run away like this. "We better call Kari, and tell her about this." Davis mumbled out as he kicked a small stone into the water. "Do you think we'll get a chance like this again TK?" Staring at the blond haired boy, he frowned when he noticed TK staring back down the tunnel they had just come from. "What is it?"

Staring into the darkness, TK eyes narrowed as he tensed up. "I thought I heard something."

"There's something over there!" Yolie screamed out as she snapped a hand out to point into the darkness.

Clenching up their hands, TK and Davis moved up side by side as several shapes began to come into the faint light. "Guess Ken didn't want us to get away this time." Davis mumbled out as he began to count the shapes. "Who are those digimons anyway?"

The digimons had become rather clear, and had a shape that looked like a mutated frog with a fin on it's head. Around their front legs, Dark Rings could be seen. "We're Betamon's, and our supreme master, the Digimon Emperor sent us to capture you child."

Stepping back, Davis turned to look back over his shoulder. "Raidramon, are you ready?"

"You too Digmon." Cody added in as he watched the Betamon keep moving out of the darkness, trying to keep the fear out of his voice. "You and Raidramon are the only ones left who can fight."

"Guys!" Yolie's voice yelled out as she pointed down one of the side tunnels, a group of familiar white colored digimons flying through the air. "There's a group of Bakemon's headed this way."

Eyes narrowing even more, TK looked at the large number of hostile digimons and then at the only two battle able digimons they had left on their own side. "Davis, have Raidramon cover us from the Bakemons, Cody get Digmon to collapse the tunnel on the Betamon's."

"What?" Cody voiced out as he shot a quick look over at the blond haired boy. "But, they're digimons, I can't kill them."

Looking a bit angry, Davis clenched his hands hard enough to draw a bit of blood. "You have to, if we get captured, who's going to save the digital world." Staring into the tunnel with the Bakemons, Davis nodded. "Do it Raidramon!"

Holding out a hand in a stopping gesture, Cody eyes snapped wide open. "Wait, there has to be another way." Then he turned around as he noticed several of the Betamon's looking at him, electric sparks floating around in their mouths. "Oh no."

"Cody!!"

-------------------- 

"We have to go faster!" Matt's voice cut through the air as he and Garurumon rushed across the desert floor, Sora and Mimi flying on Birddramon directly above him with Kari and Nefertimon next to them, and above all of them Kabuterimon flew through the air with Tai and Izzy on his back. "I swear, if Ken's harmed him in anyway, I'll take him down myself."

Looking down at her boyfriend, Sora felt her mouth go dry. There was only one other time she could recall seeing the same look of hate in those blue eyes. And that was when one of the Dark Master's had kidnapped TK. "Matt, calm down, we'll save them." Even before she had finished speaking, she had to ask herself id she was trying to convince herself or Matt, with only one armor digimon, how much of a chance did they stand against the army of dark ringed digimons under the emperor control.

Not giving any sign of having heard her, Matt urged Garurumon to run faster. But still, he had to admit, he felt a bit of doubt in what he could do. His digimon couldn't digivovle to champion, and even if it was still possible to reach it, his mega form would be rendered useless by the control towers or that blasted black digivice the emperor had. But he had to try, it was his brother out there, and he was not going to site by as he was once again put in mortal danger.

Hanging onto Nefertimon, Kari had her eyes closed as she tried to avoid thinking of what might be happening to both TK and Davis at the moment, not to mention Yolie and Cody. As well as trying to convince herself that it wasn't her fault they were in trouble, she had to go and find her brother, they had agreed on it. So why did it fell like it was her fault.

"It's not." Nefertimon spoke out as she flew through the evening sky. "No matter how much you think it is, it's not your fault." Feeling her partner's confusion, Nefertimon chuckled a bit. "You tend to speak out your thoughts when you're really concerned."

Looking a bit embarrassed, Kari remembered why they where talking about it, and felt depressed again. "It might have been different if we had been there."

Giving a deep, sighing sound, Nefertimon eased up a bit on her flying speed as she adjusted her direction. "Or it could have been the same result, we have no idea how powerful the Emperor's new digimon is. I think it's safe to say that if the four other digimons couldn't even harm him, how could we have helped. "

"We might have." Kari started a protest and stopped, her voice failing her as she realized just what her partner had been hinting at. "So now what do we do."

Not answering her partner right away, Nefertimon stared at the horizon for a few seconds. "Our best."

-------------------- 

Back on Earth, Night had fallen over the City of Tokyo. Covering the sky with a layer of stars and clouds barely seen in the light from the street lamps. Inside the house in a sparsely furnished guestroom, the master slept after a hard day of planning and cursing the digi destined.

"No, don't delete him." Twisting around in his sleep. The Master shook his head as he once more he relived one of the worst moments of his life. Watching his best friend, and the most trusted one in his life engage in a battle he couldn't hope to win, no matter how hard he tried.

Facing him, Two other digimon's stood on top of a snow covered mountain, a rare break in the endless storms allowing them the peace for this final battle between the three. He could see them clearly, a great orange dinosaur and a fur-covered wolf a bit over the size of a midsize family car.

And behind them, two human figures, light coming from their hands as their digivices reacted to their wish to end this battle. "No." Shaking his head and trying as hard as he could, he could only watch as his partner rushed out to do battle with them. "Stop it!"

Sitting up in the bed, The master sighed as he felt his sweat covered forehead, purple hair stuck to his sweaty forehead head as he rolled over onto his side, a green glow greeting him from the alarm clock, standing there on the simple wooden desk. "3am."

Sitting up as he muttered out the time, he stared out the window and into the night sky, seeing nothing but a dark blanket above the buildings. The light from the stars drowned out by the constant light form the city streets below, hiding the one thing he had always thought could comfort him. "Gennai, the sovern digimons." Eyes growing hard at the thought of the dream, he lifted up a hand to press against the window. "They will all pay for what they did, even my so called servants and generals. They have the most part of the blame."

Standing in the darkness outside the guestroom. Oikawa smiled grimly as he listen to the barely heard mutterings of his ally. A dark grin forming on his face as he began to walk away, taking care not to cause too much noise. Reaching his own room, he closed his door behind him and allowed a grin to form on his face. "Fool, our alliance only goes as far as to the digital world. After that, who knows what will happen." As he spoke, a dark cloud formed around Oikawa as his eyes glowed bright red. "Other then my darkness covering everything, as it has always been destined to."

Across town in an apartment complex, two adults sat silently inside a living room, hoping that their only remaining child would come through the front door, unharmed and with a good excuse.

Around town, almost the same thing was thought out by a lot of people, all of them completely oblivious to the fact that their children was up against some very dark odds in a world few of them had ever dreamed off.

-------------------- 

"Master, more digi destined have entered the area."

Turning to stare at the screen, the Digimon Emperor put down his teacup and smirked. "About time as well." Standing up, he looked at one screen in particular; the very one he had spent the last 20 minutes looking at in fact. "Now, I will have a complete collection of defeated brats."

Looking a bit unsure at what his partner was saying. Wormmon stared at the screen, the four children and digimons sitting inside each of their cells clearly shown on it. "When will you send them back to earth again?"

"Later." Came the ice-cold reply as the Digimon emperor continued to push buttons on his control console. "The brats refused my offer, therefore, I won't let them go free anytime soon." Laughing coldly, the messy haired boy stood up. "They can rot in the cells until I grow tired of hearing their cries for mercy."

Eyes opening at his partner's words, Wormmon gave a weak moan. "But Ken, they." The rest was cut off as Wormmon had to move back a bit to prevent the whip from hitting him.

Glaring at his partner with hateful eyes, the Digimon emperor stood up, turned back to the console. "Never call me that again Wormmon, I am the digimon Emperor, and you shall call me either that, or master." Nodding to his commands as he moved back from the console, a small chuckle came from him. "Perfect, the last of the Armor brats are here, I shall enjoy seeing their expression when their digimons become my loyal slaves."

As his partner left the room, Wormmon remained behind to watch the empty space where his partner had been just a few seconds ago. "Ken." Moving a bit to the side to watch the monitors, Wormmon stopped as his eyes fell onto the eight objects placed on a small table by his partner. A feeling of doubt washing through him, but only for a few seconds as he regarded the children on the screen, seeing the way they cared for their partners. "I'm doing this for you Ken."

-------------------- 

"I don't believe this."

The words were spoken by Mimi, but could have come from anyone of the digi destined as they came to the remains of the village. The sight of the burning buildings and roaming dark ringed digimon sending a shiver down their spine as most of them were reminded off pas destruction wrought by the four dark masters.

But even they could have come up with an excuse for destroying everything; The Digimon Emperor hadn't a single one. If the human boy had wanted too, he simply could have planted a control spire and taken over the digimons without the senseless violence. The Dark Masters had lacked that power as they hadn't even considered taking over the minds of digimons, but rather sought to rule through power alone.

Staring up at the looming fortress above the village. Matt clenched up a hand as he watched the single metal part sticking out of the front of it. "Okay, we have to move fast now." Removing his gaze from the fortress, Matt focused on the burnt out city. "Kari, write TK and find out if they're okay, also, tell them we're on our way."

Nodding as she pulled out her D-terminal, Kari quickly wrote up a message and hit the send button. Her eyes staring at the screen non stop, waiting for an answer.

"It is useless to even try that."

Spinning around at the familiar sneering voice, the five kids focused on the single boy standing before them. one foot planted dramatically on the only remains wall of a building. The blue and yellow cape fluttering a bit in the weak wind as a smirk formed on his face. "Your friends are now my prisoners, and I suggest you surrender, if you don't, they will have a very bad accident."

Eyes smoldering with anger, Matt felt his nails cut through the flesh on his hands. "Bastard, let them go now!"

One eyebrow rising a bit at the way he was spoken to, the Digimon Emperor's smirk grew wider as he lifted up a hand. "Maybe what you need is a bit more of a reason to surrender." Snapping his fingers, a dark laughter escaped from him. "Meet me most perfect creation yet, Kimeramon!" Eyes covered by a reflex in his glass as he lowered his arm, the digimon Emperor felt Kimeramon rise up from behind one of the buildings in a most dramatic way. "Surrender now, or I will be forced to have your digimons deleted, and I hate to let good slaves go to waste."

Feeling a bit of anger at the words from the Digimon Emperor, Tai froze before he could say anything. His mind going back over the digimons he had enslaved, or deleted. And for what, a master who had turned on him, or was it because he had liked it, to see someone cower before him in the dust, begging for mercy that wouldn't come. Was there really any difference between himself and this boy?

"Well." Came a more arrogant and impatient demand from the Digimon Emperor, his eyes narrowing behind the sunglasses. "If you fools don't make up your mind, I will be forced to let Kimeramon delete your digimons. You don't want that, do you?"

At the mentioning of him, the huge digimon growled a bit as he floated closer to the kids and their digimons. Already feeling like destroying them, despite the commands of his master to wait for a signal, a command that could barely hold him back as it were.

Staring around at the rest of the team, Matt growled as he saw the same unsure look in each f their eyes, except for the look on Tai's face. He looked almost, sorry for the Emperor. Still, with the odds so heavily against them, they could really only do one thing. "We surrender."

Smirking as arrogantly and self-assured as he could, the Digimon Emperor watched the resigned look on all the digi destined faces. "Good, throw your digivices on the ground, and step away from them." Turning his head in Kari's direction, he glared at Nefertimon. "And have your digimon dedigivolve back to her normal state, I don't want anyone playing hero."

Lifting up a hand in front of him, a dark laughter echoed out into the ruined city as five digivices landed on the ground before him. "At last, I have won, the Digital World is mine, and only mine."

-------------------- 

Tapping a finger against the floor, Davis stared out through the black iron bars and sighed. It wasn't how he expected it all to end. Held prisoner in his enemy's base, waiting for the moment when the Emperor would force him and his friends to watch as he turned their partner digimons into a slave.

At least he couldn't complain about the company in the cell. If only they had been a more lively, TK seemed to share his dark mood, while Yolie were busy looking at Cody curled up on the only escape form the cold floor. "Is he still in shock Yolie?"

"I'm not sure." Came the reply as the purple haired girl turned her attention away from the youngest member in the group, and focused on the leader. "I think he's awake, he just don't want to respond to anything I say."

Lifting his eyes up from where they had been focused at, Cody slowly curled out of his mute shell. "I'm just thinking, if it hadn't been for Digmon, I would have died back there." Voice turning a bit strained at the end; Cody stood up and walked over to stare out the door, his eyes landing on the small pink ball that was his partner's current form.

_Electric sparks floated around in the Betamon's mouths as they aimed it right at the young boy. The cries of the other human children around them ignored as they followed the orders they had been given bring back the digi destined no matter what. "Electric shock!"_

Falling back down, Cody screamed loudly as he saw the massive amounts of electrically charged steams of light headed towards him, until a yellow colored figure jumped into the path of the attacks, screaming loudly as recognized who it was that had jumped in the way. "Digmon!"

Falling down, Digimon lay on the ground as smoke rose up from him, His body glowing brightly a second or so later as the damaged caused him to regress back to his in training level. 

Lowering his head to avoid seeing the hurt expression on Cody face, Davis tried to block out the memory that arose when he saw his own partner but couldn't. The battered form of Demiveemon showed just how ruthless the Digimon Emperor slaves had been in the fight. "I'm sorry,"

"For what?" TK spat out as he kicked out and hit an iron bar. "It all Ken's fault, if he hadn't turned into such a." The rest of his words were forgotten as he stared at a small, green digimon looking back at them. "What are you doing here?"

Sitting up at blond haired boys sudden question, Davis, Cody and Yolie stared at the digimon as well. Recognizing him as the one who constantly followed the Digimon Emperor around, a brown back lying on the ground behind him.

Walking a bit closer, Wormmon looked over at the messy haired boy inside the cell. Recognizing him as the one his partner always ranted about, claiming he was his archenemy. And as such, he had to be the one with the best chance of helping him. "You have to help me, please."

"Me?" Davis replied in a surprised tone of voice as he poked a finger at himself. "Why should I, you work for the Digimon Emperor, you're just going to set us up." Voice turning a bit resentful at the end, Davis stood up.

Shaking his head, Wormmon crawled even closer to the cell. "No, you have to believe me, I won't set you up." Feeling the other digimons focused on him as well, Wormmon pulled the bag closer to the cell door. "I brought your digivices, I'll give them to you, if you agree to help me save Ken."

Feeling rather puzzled at what the digimon were saying, Davis turned his attention back at the digimon. "Save him, from what?"

Getting an embarrassed expression on his face, Wormmon shook it and looked back at Davis with a hopeful expression. "From himself, you seen what he has made, that evil digimon Kimeramon, I'm afraid I'll lose him forever. Please, help me."

"Okay." Smiling as he ignored the shocked gasps from the others, Davis kneeled down to look out through the iron bars. "But first we have to get out of here."

"You'll help me? Thanks." Having a grateful expression on his face, Wormmon pushed the bag closer to the iron bars and watched as Davis and the others reached a hand into the bag, pulling out both their D3s and D-terminals. "Your digimons can armor digivolve with these, and break you out."

A small cough from the other cell drew their attention over to the digimons sitting there, and Demiveemon looking out at them with a tired expression. "We can't armor digivolve, we're too tired. We need energy, and food."

"I can get you out of there in no time."

Turning to face the new voice, the digi destined and digimons stared in mute surprise at the red haired boy and insect like digimon. "Izzy, Tentomon."

Looking more surprised then the others, Wormmon looked at them. "How did you get up here, the fortress is flying above the ground."

Walking over to the cell doors, Izzy poked the lock a bit, before pulling out a key from his pocket. "We convinced an Unimon from the village to give us a lift up here. Sadly he didn't want to wait around in case the Digimon Emperor spotted him" Stepping back from the cell door, Izzy pointed a finger at a small mark he had scratched into the locks metal surface. "Okay Tentomon, hit it right there, and the lock should break open."

Flying up to him, Tentomon gave a salute to his partner. "Ay, Ay Izzy." Focusing on the mark, Tentomon called up his powers for his basic attack. "Super Shocker!"

Giving a weak cracking sound, the door shook a bit before it opened. "Ha, A simple electric shock in the right place to override the magnetic lock." Looking rather smug, Izzy looked at the kids. "Well."

"We'll thank you later." Davis added as he walked over to the digimons cell. "After you get them out of there."

Several minutes later had the group of humans walking down the prison hallway, the various digimons trapped in the prison cells looking out at them. "Can't we do something for them?" Cody voiced out as he spotted a group of Koromon's huddling in a corner.

Watching the digimons, Izzy nodded at Tentomon and then looked up at the four younger digi destined. "You four go, me and Tentomon will stay here and free them." Seeing the protesting expression on their faces, Izzy shook his head. "Right now we have a strong advantage, the Digimon Emperor isn't on the base right now, so we have a chance of shutting this place down."

Eyes lighting up with understanding, Davis nodded as he turned around to walk down the corridor again. "Okay, we'll go for the engine room, you and Tentomon free these digimons, and then you can meet us there."

-------------------- 

Still laughing a bit to himself, the Digimon Emperor watched the five digi destined walking before him, the look of defeat on their face, filling him with joy. "Now that they are all dealt wth, my only problem lies in deciding where to go next, maybe I should hunt down that girl before she becoems a problem as well."

Reaching down a hand to pull out a communicator, the Emperor looked up at his fortress. "Wormmon, come in, I need you to send down the Airdramon's with another cage." Smirking evilly at the thought, he looked down at his prisoners. "I have another group of Digi Destined that needs to be removed from my world."

Waiting for a reply, his eyes narrowed as the seconds passed with no response. "Wormmon?" Still not getting an answer, he growled as he turned off the communicator. "That little, you can't trust him to do anything right." Turning to his forces, he looked at them. "Guard them, I need to return to the base." Jumping up on a nearby Airdramon as he spoke, he looked down at his prisoners again. "Don't worry, I'll be right back to deal with you. Let's go Kimeramon."

Growling in response, the huge evil digimon took off form the ground, heading up towards the place where he had first come into existence. His eyes narrowing as he came closer to the rocky surface of the place. The control on him was nearly gone, just a few more minutes and he would be free.

"Is this it?" Yolie asked out loud as they looked in awe at the towering metal spire running up and down the center of the base, the top and bottom parts hidden by the sheer height of it. "What's he doing with that thing, picking up TV signal's from around the world."

Jumping a head of them on the metal gangway, Wormmon headed towards the bubbled shaped central point of it. "This way, the Engine room over here."

Following after him, Davis and TK stared at the inside of the room engine, the feeling of raw power heavy in the air as they stepped in. "What's that?" Davis mumbled out as he pointed a clack color shape standing a pedestal in the center of the room.

Following his finger, Wormmon eyes frowned a bit as he hopped closer to it. "I don't know, Ken found it. It's what powers the base."

Stepping closer to it, Davis looked down at it. "We can't lift that thing." Turning to TK, he lifted up a hand towards the blond haired boy. "Got any ideas?"

Looking just as lost as him, TK shrugged. "No, but you can always try grabbing it, if it zaps you, we know that didn't work." The last was added with a grin.

"Ha, ha." Davis laughed out in a fake voice as he looked down at the black thing. "But we have to get it away from there"

"Get away from my power source!"

Turning around at the angry roar, Davis and TK stared at the sight of the Digimon Emperor standing out on the gangway, the black whip uncurled on the floor as Yolie and Cody backed away form him, or the looming presence of Kimeramon behind him. "I said, get away from there."

Glaring at the messy haired boy, Davis spun around. "Never." almost touching the thing, Davis stopped as the room started shaking, golden beams of light shooting out form the black thing. "Now what!"

Out on the gangway, the Digimon Emperor stumbled backwards, reaching out a hand to steady him as the shaking started. As he leaned on Kimeramon, he watched in disbelief, as his engine room was simply ripped apart by a golden light. "What's going on?" Then he tumbled over as Kimeramon took off from the floor, his eyes focused on the lightshow and his master, before he turned around to leave, smashing down a wall in the process. "Kimeramon, come back here, where you going. I need you to stop them! Kimeramon, I order you to come back!"

Staring after his creation, the Digimon Emperor froze as a cold feeling washed over him, a faint laughter growing louder with each heart beat, making the doubt inside of him grow with each second. "Why won't he obey me, I'm his master, his creator."

"Did you really think you could control the Darkness?"

Falling down onto his knees as the voice echoed through his head, the Digimon Emperor gritted his teeth as the metal floor beneath him seemingly turned into a hole of liquid darkness, several voices laughing out at him from its depts. "I don't fear the darkness, it should fear me. I am the ruler of this world."

Staring at the sight, Yolie struggled to figure out if she should rush over to help him, or let him suffer through whatever was wrong with him. "What do you think is wrong?" Still, it couldn't hurt to ask someone.

Turning away form the golden light, TK stared at their enemy, hearing the words he mumbled out. "I think he tried to control the darkness of this world, but it proved to much for him." At that moment, a final shuddered went through the base as all the lights went out around the place. "Way to go Davis, whatever you did worked!"

"Look at our digimons." Cody pointed out as he stared at Upamon glowing brightly. "Something's happening to them."

"Upamon digivolve too, Armadillomon!"

"Poromon digivolve too, Hawkmon!"

Staring in awe, Yolie watched her partner, as he looked just as surprised. "They digivolved."

"Togemon digivolve too, Patamon!"

Staring at his own partner who had flown off his hat when he digivolved, TK blinked. "I don't believe this."

"DemiVeemon digivolve too, Veemon."

Looking down at his partner, Davis smiled. "You're back." Then he turned back to watch the light die down around the object, a digiegg of pure gold taking shape before him as it hovered gently up into his hand. "Is this mine?"

Staring in pure excitement at the digiegg, Veemon nodded. "It must be, come on let's use it."

Facing the other digi destined, he saw the looks of determination in their eyes. "Okay." Then he spun around completely and held the digiegg out before him, somehow knowing what he had to say in order to activate it. "Golden Armor Energize"

At his cry, the digiegg explode into several rays of light that blazed out to cover his digimon partner. "Veemon Golden armor digivolve too, Magnamon." The light fading to reveal a dragon man like digimon dressed in golden body armor.

Hovering in the air above the remains of the engine room, Magnamon looked at the human children before him, seeing the hope in their eyes, a hope that he could stop the Digimon Emperor once and for all. A hope he wouldn't fail. "The balance of power has shifted."

TBC: Times of Hope.

AN: Things are moving forward with this story. And once again I am surprise of what I had only intended to be a one shot dark fic. Eight chapters and a Prologue and the story isn't even halfway done yet.

Hope the last part didn't look too much like the actual episode.


	10. Part X

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Summery: AU, very AU and dark, with mentioning of torture, violence and blood drinking.

Taichi's been disowned by the master and barely escaped both his execution and the destruction of his castle as Jun and the Digimon Emperor battled for supremacy of that area. In the battle, the Emperor revealed his new great weapon, Kimeramon. And in the real world, Oikawa Ukyou approached the master with an offer of alliance or destruction.

Special note: 'Thoughts'

  
Spawn of the vampire  
Part IX  
Times of Hope  


  
  
Staring at the golden glow coming from Magnamon floating in the air, the second team of digi destined felt their hopes rise once more, the thought that they could win growing stronger as the golden digimon turned his attention to the hole that Kimeramon had made on his way out.

Outside the massive flying fortress, Kimeramon had set a course for the burning village below, when the sudden flash of power washed over him. His eyes moving to stare back at the place of his creation, the darkness within him was seething at the feel of the power.

Moving around, the massive digimon flew back at the base, his eyes glowing with anger and rage towards the source of that power, the evil digimon barely noting as he broke through the stone surface of the base to get into the power.

Turning back to see what his friends thought of his partner's new form, Davis froze when his gaze went past TK and Yolie to stare at an empty spot on the metal bridge. His face frowning as he cast a quick look around the place. "Where's Ken?"

Looking back at the palace where the evil boy had been, the three other digi destined carrying the same confused expressions as they notice the absence. "Wormmon's gone too." Yolie noted, as she looked further down the path and towards an open door. "I'd say they went that way."

"Right." TK replied as he began to walk forward. "And we're going after him." Stopping his looked at Davis with a concerned expression. "You coming Davis?"

Staring back at Magnamon, Davis saw the understanding in his partners' eyes. "Of course, I wouldn't want to miss it." As he ran up to TK, Davis grinned a bit as he looked over his shoulder at Magnamon, joys almost oozing form him. "Give him your best Magnamon."

Nodding, Magnamon tensed up as he prepared to follow Kimeramon down through the hole, stopped as he felt the powerful evil digimon approaching. "Davis, all of you, run!" Shooting forward as the wall grumble, Magnamon punched the large shape appearing roughly, his fist hitting the Evil digimon on the side of its head. "Magna Punch!"

Giving a surprised roar, Kimeramon fell down a bit from his intended path, nearly hitting the wall along the way. Then he refocused on the golden armored Digimon above him. "Heat Viper!" Sending an attack up at him, growling as it failed to hit the fast moving digimon.

Flying out of the way of the attack, Magnamon took a quick look to see that Davis and the others had run off, leaving him to fight Kimeramon without having to worry about them getting hurt. "Come on, give me your best shot!" Shooting down as he yelled out the words, Magnamon ducked to the side of the Skullgreymon arm, only to get pounded back up into the air by the Kuwagamon arm instead, impacting the wall painfully. "Okay, wrong choice of words."

"That's good Kimeramon, now finish him off." As the words filled the air, Kimeramon looked up to see the person he hated the most, the weak powerless human boy standing in a open alcove several stories above them. Deciding to ignore the boy, Kimeramon refocused on Magnamon as the golden digimon flew back down towards him again. "Heat Viper!"

Once again, Magnamon ducked under Kimeramon attack, and shot towards the giant evil digimon with even more speed. Turning around in the air so his legs would hit him first. "Magna Kick!" The force of it hitting the massive digimon's head sending a shock through him.

Falling down and out of control, Kimeramon roared out in anger as his body impacted the metal covered walls, tearing through them to hit the stone behind that. Pulling his arms free, the evil digimon shot up into the air again, hitting Magnamon with his left Devimon arm.

Smacking into the metal covered wall as well, Magnamon groaned a bit as he saw the massive shape of Kimeramon moving in to finish him off. Pushing off in the last second, he grinned behind his mask as he saw the shocked expression on his opponents face as the massive Devimon arms punched clean through the wall.

Moving in for another few hits, Magnamon noted that the massive digimon wasn't really fast when it came to pulling his arms free of the wall. "Take this and that, and this one too!" Yelling out the words, Magnamon continued to punch the evil digimon with all of his strength with each word he yelled out.

Roaring back in pain, and feeling his hatred growing, with passing second this puny metal covered digimon dared to hit him, Kimeramon snapped open his mouth, sickly green fire shooting out of it. "Heat Viper!" The attack close enough to send the golden pest flying back to safety as the wall covering his hand melted.

As he ripped his arms free, Kimeramon dully noted that the four humans and the worthless digimons he had fought before where covering near the intact wall on the other side, and thus, where nothing more then sitting ducks.

"Davis!" Roaring out the name when he saw his partner had nearly been hit, Magnamon shot down, one fist clenched up tightly as he aimed it right for the large eye that was staring at him. "Magna Punch!"

Moving around with a speed that would have seemed impossible for such a large creature, Kimeramon simply punched the charging Magnamon right on, sending him flying down, through a wall with a loud crash. Then he was off, fully intent of reducing this digimon to nothing more then a pile of digital dust.

-------------------- 

On the ground, everything was nothing short of pure chaos. The sudden loss of power from the fortress had meant the complete shutdown of all the control towers, which also meant that the dark rings had become useless, as the towers no longer sent out power to them.

This had also lead to the humans held captive there having an easy time escape the confused digimons, a thing that had become even easier when Kimeramon had smashed his way through the side of the fortress and out into the open air, his path taking him towards the large group of confused and scared digimons.

Seconds after, he suddenly turned around and reentered the fortress, something which had everyone even more confused, but no less intent on getting as far away as they could.

Watching the fortress, Kari turned to stare down at Gatomon who had the same expression on her face as she did. "What the heck's going on up there?" the same question shared by the other digi destined as they continued to watch the fortress just hover there.

Then another large explosion of dirt shot out from the side of the fortress, seconds before a much larger one signaled that Kimeramon was coming out again. And right in front of him was a golden armored digimon that had stopped in the air, and was facing him head on.

Narrowing her eyes, Gatomon tails stood up in surprise as she recognized the color and shape of the digimon under the armor, an easy thing since it looked like Flamedramon with a cooler looking outfit. "It's Veemon." Her voice making the other digi destined and digimon look at her in surprise, much like she did herself as she asked the one question on her mind at the moment. "What happened to him?"

"I don't know." Matt added as he looked back at the still fleeing digimons. "But I think it would be best i we where to find a better place watch then this."

Sharing a look, the small group of Digi Destined nodded before they began to track backwards, away from the battle zone, but still feeling like they should be up there and helping somehow.

Turning her head to stare at the massive fortress as a large explosion rocked the bottom off it, Kari eyes narrowed as she clenched her fists. "TK, Davis, all of you, you better make it out of there in one piece."

-------------------- 

Steadying his body in the air, Magnamon shoulder pads snapped open in several places as small air jest struggled to keep him steady enough to attack. "Magna Blast!" At the words, a series of small missiles shoot out of the small holes in his shoulder pads, streaking through the air to hit Kimeramon head on in several explosions, slowing him down, but not stopping him.

Of to the side of the battle, he noticed that the Digimon Emperor had showed up again, this time riding on the back of a Devidramon, his laughter ringing out through the air. "Yes, destroy him Kimeramon!" A hand getting raised as he yelled out the words.

Next to the emperor, Wormmon cringed at his partner's words, but still keeping a sharp look on his master's creation as it battled Magnamon. "Come on Magnamon, you can do it!" Finally yelling out a cheer for his partner's opponents at the sight of Kimeramon having trouble fighting him.

Glaring down at his partner, the Digimon Emperor eyes narrowed at what his partner had just done. How dared that green weakling cheer for his enemies? Didn't he understand that as his, servant, he shouldn't support anyone but him. "Shut up Wormmon!" Screaming the words, he turned back to watch the battle, barely noting the digi destined and their digimons leaving his base as a think column of smoke rose out from it.

Ducking around Kimeramon's punches, Magnamon grunted as he felt the strain of the battle slowly catch up with him. Whatever kind of powers he had been granted by the golden egg was running out fast. "Magna Blast!" Trying the missiles again, he grunted, as they did nothing to stop the evil digimon from attacking.

Pounding the golden armored digimon with his Kuwagamon fist, Kimeramon gave a dark laugh as he grabbed the golden armored digimon in his Skullgreymon hand, grasping him as tight as he could, fully intending to crush him into digi dust.

Struggling to get free, Magnamon suddenly stopped as he was completely drained of power, barely holding onto his Magnamon form as it was, something made more difficult as Kimeramon kept on squeezing him harder with each passing second.

Eyes gleaming as he looked at it, the evil digimon grinned as felt the digimon stop struggling. Lifting his head back and laughing again, Kimeramon froze as he spotted a group of digimons flying through the air, the same ones he had defeated earlier, but not destroyed as he had intended.

Then his attention was drawn back down as a sudden impact against his arm made him falter in the air, his grip on his opponent lost as he turned to face the attack. Seeing it was the Devidramon and that green digimon, he punched both of them harshly, the Devidramon's dark ring shattering as it fell down.

The other blow sending the green digimon fell down with a shimmering light around it. "Magnamon, accept the power I have left, and save Ken for me." At the words coming from it, a beam made of the shimmering light streaked up towards the golden armored digimon, who was covered in it.

The simple act sending a new wave of anger through him as he shot towards the golden armored digimon, not going to take the time to enjoy the pleasure of a slow deletion for him anymore. "Heat."

Feeling Wormmon's power spread through him, Magnamon's eyes gleamed as he locked onto Kimeramon hurtling right towards him. "Wormmon's power has made me stronger, I can end this now!" Roaring out the words, he crossed his arms in front of him even as the first signs of green fire formed in Kimeramon's mouth. "Magna Explosion!"

Spreading out around him, an expanding sphere of golden light filled the air, the attack hitting Kimeramon as he tried to stop his attack, the sheer power of it ripping the digimon into digital data as it swept over him, the last roar of the monster like digimon ringing out with pure defiance, and rage over having no chance to avoid getting deleted by that golden powered digimon.

On the ground, the Digimon Emperor stared up at his creation's destruction with wide eyes, the full impact of it hitting him harshly as he struggled to sit up from where he had landed. "I lost." The words whispered out as his whole world collapsed around him in that single moment.

-------------------- 

"How sad." Oikawa mumbled out as he watched the scene on his computer, one hand lowering his teacup onto the small table with a slow movement. "It would appear that even the Digimon Emperor couldn't stop them." A dark sneer to his words as he crossed his hands in front of his face. "This calls for some concern."

The master didn't reply as he watched the battle, taking a small satisfaction from the fact that he wasn't the only to suffer a crushing defeat to those brats. Still, Oikawa did have a point. "Shall we direct our servants towards the brats before finding the remaining temples?"

Giving a deep thinking sound, Oikawa closed his eyes a bit. "No, the brats are a threat. And with the control towers shut down, the barrier around the digital world will grow strong again" Turning shi head to look out at the distant city skyline, Oikawa's face twisted into an angry grimace. "All that work, down the drain, without those towers, we're almost back to square one."

Then he grinned a bit as he turned back to the screen. "But only almost." Seeing the confusion on the master's face, he smiled a bit. "For now, we should focus on getting the Digi Destined distracted." Speaking calmly, Oikawa walked over to the computer and began to work on it, a few windows displaying a map of the digital world, and a small list of locations. "This temple is located inside the control towers domain, a perfect site for a trap."

Lowering his own teacup, the Master stood up and watched the screen as well. "I get the feeling you have other ideas for lowering the shield, beside stealing the digi cores"

"Correct." Oikawa replied as he stepped back and folded his arms behind his back. "Simply put, re-activate the control towers. Other then that, there are the destiny stones, the very foundation of the digital world stability."

Looking impressed, the Master turned away from the computer screen as well. "Interesting." Then his eyes narrowed a bit as he walked back to the couch. "But I can't help but wonder how you know all of that Oikawa, have you been to the digital world before?"

"No." Oikawa replied as he turned away from the master, his eyes looking out the window. "But, it is my greatest wish, and I will do anything to get it for filled, anything." Both his hands clenched up at his last word, his eyes glowing a bit as he smirked. "But enough of that, we must plan our next move."

The Master nodded a bit before he sat down on the couch, his thoughts still puzzled over Oikawa's knowledge of the digital world, and how he could have gotten it. "An ambush should do the trick, with Arukenimon, Mummymon and Jun attacking them at once, it should be easy to overpower and defeat them."

Oikawa narrowed his eyes a bit as he turned back to regard the Master. "True, but I have given Mummymon a different mission. Therefore, it will only be Arukenimon who goes up against the Digi Destined, giving Jun time to steal the digi core from the temple."

Sitting up with an alarmed expression on his face, the Master shook his head as he stood up. "No, No. We must use all three of them, and stop them before they become any stronger."

Smirking as he turned back around, Oikawa began to walk over to the door of the room. "Relax, Arukenimon has a special attack that will shock that Digi destined a great deal. And grant us a quick victory." the last was added with a laughter as Oikawa left the room.

Left behind, the Master shook his head he walked around the room. This alliance was starting to look a bit flawed, but it gave him a great advantage. He didn't have to concern himself with Oikawa interfering with the plan, and he got the help and power needed to secure what he wanted. And after that, there would be a rather significant change in how things where run around this place.

-------------------- 

"Where's he going?" Sora asked as the group of Digi destined watched the digimon Emperor, or rather Ken as he had turned back into, wandered off into the digital desert, the sound of his sobbing still clearly heard by them. "Can we really let him walk off like that, what if he tries to hurt more digimons"

Looking a bit less concerned, Davis turned to watch the older kids, an exhausted Demiveemon sleeping soundly in his arms after the battle. "It'll be okay, I don't think Ken will be a problem ever again" Walking closer, he turned to regard Tai who had slipped a bit into the back of the group. "Besides, it seems you're willing to give him a chance, so why not give Ken one as well."

Regarding Tai as well, TK, Yolie and Cody had mixed expression on their face as they walked closer to him. "So, you're Kari's brother." TK started as he held onto Patamon, his eyes turning to see how his brother felt about his presence. "I heard a lot about you."

Rising an eyebrow at the way those words were spoken, Tai slowly nodded his head to show some kind of thanks for the greeting. "Thank you, I'm Taichi, but I prefer to be call Tai." Watching the other in the group, he gave his best attempt at a smile. "I'm also honored to have met you as well, and I'm sorry for any trouble I have caused your group in the past."

Having a rather annoyed expression on his face, Matt shook his head as his left fist clenched up slightly. "He didn't apologize for causing us trouble when he met us."

Next to him, Sora blushed as she jabbed her elbow into his side. "Relax, it could be because you two didn't get off to such a great start." Keeping her eyes on the group, she tried to see if Tai had heard what she and Matt had said.

Rubbing a hand over the place Sora hit, Matt sighed. "Maybe that was because he was a enemy, one who hurt two of our friends?" Speaking in a slightly sarcastic tone of voice, Matt turned away from Sora a bit and sighed loudly. "And I still don't trust him, who's to say this isn't just a trick."

"Show some trust would you." Sora nearly snapped at him as she turned away as well. Her arms crossed as she focused on the digital horizon with an angry frown.

Watching them, TK regarded his brother with a look of concern before he turned back to the group again. "Okay, Ken's defeated and all the enslaved digimons are freed." Clenching up his hands in front of him, he grinned as he looked at the group around him. "We did it."

Smiling widely at the words from TK. "Yeah!" Yolie yelled out as she gave a jump out of joy to show how happy she was at their victory. "And now we can finally relax, no more fighting evil for us."

"No." Tai mumbled out as he looked up into the air, the word somehow heard by all of them. "It's not over, there's still Jun and the Master to worry about."

Snapping out of his anger, Matt turned to regard the messy haired boy with the cape with a concerned expression. "What do you mean, who is this master? And Jun as well?"

Flinching bit, Davis looked at the messy haired boy and Matt as he lowered his head, unsure of what the other would think when he told them. But it had to be done; maybe they could help clear up a few things that had troubled him ever since that fateful day four years ago. "She's my sister."

Turning to face the holder of the digi egg of courage and friendship. The group shared a troubled expression as they watched him, Kari the most of all as she had been told about it before. "Davis, are you sure?"

Staring grimly at her, the younger messy haired boy turned to regard Tai with a dark look. "She has a messy hair style right, and likes to talk a lot." Seeing Tai nod, Davis clenched up his hand. "I knew it, ever since I saw her that day, I knew she was doing something completely wrong."

Getting a frown on his face, TK leaned forward to stare more closely at Davis. "What are you talking about?"

Not answering right away, Davis closed his eyes as he took a deep breath. Remembering that day four years ago, the day when his world was changed drastically. "It was about week after the final battle you guys had with Apocalymon." Feeling the others tense up behind him, he sighed. "I was waking home from the candy store, when I saw Jun talking with a young man nearby our apartment complex."

Remaining silent for a short while after that, Davis continued talking when he felt someone grab his shoulder to give him some comfort. "She looked completely different, more angry and tense then I had seen her, and she was holding some small fuzzy creature in her arms. She was talking about the digital world with him, and how they could return to it, but I couldn't her anything else but that since a car passed by." Taking a deep breath, Davis sighed a bit. "Before I could find out more, they left"

Davis looked a bit unsure as he finished talking about it. "I haven't seen her since, but from what she said that day , I knew that she was somehow involved with the digital world." Feeling the others looking at him, Davis grinned a bit. "But I'm sure we can stop her, and find out why she joined forces with that guy."

Remaining silent, Tai rubbed a hand on his chin; trying to recall what he could about the day Motomiya had joined him and the master. She hadn't talked much about it, and he was fairly sure that he hadn't heard anything about from the master, just that she was there to work with him once they gained entry into the digital world.

Frankly, he hadn't cared much for her; the only thing he had been interested in was Blackgatomon, and learning more about the digital world. "She has a base of operations, like I did, but it's up in the northern parts of the digital world." The words getting the full attention of the other digi destined as they turned to regard him.

Opening his mouth to ask where it was precisely, Davis closed it when he noticed just how tired the group was, and that the digimon looked even more tired. "Okay, we'll meet up tomorrow and check it out, for now, we should return hoe and get some sleep."

Snapping her head up at the words, Yolie eyes unfocused a bit. "Home, my mom's going to kill me, I was supposed to be home before 10PM."

The rest of the digi destined got about the same look on their faces, some of them nearly dropping down onto the ground as they sighed deeply. It wasn't going to be fun, explaining to their parent why they where coming home in the middle of the night.

Smiling, Kari turned around to face her brother, grabbing his hand. "Come on Tai, Momo and Dad going to be so glad to see you again." Dragging him off, she didn't see the trouble expression on his face, nor did she think of a way to explain his sudden return from the dead.

Watching them, Matt shrugged a bit. "No sense in hanging around here." Walking forward, he lightly placed his hand on Mimi's shoulder for a spilt second, the action enough to get her attention. "You coming with us, or you going back to your parents?"

Following Tai and Kari with her eyes for a bit, Mimi smiled slowly. "I don't know, I should return home and ensure mom and dad that I'm okay, but I also want to stay here."

"You can stay at my place for the night Mimi." Sora offered as she walked over to them. "And I don't think my mom will mind if you call your parents to tell them where you are." Despite the fact that it would be a halfway around the world phone call.

Giving her red orange haired friend a thankful smile, Mimi nodded a bit. "Thank you, but only if I'm not to much trouble for you."

Giggling at the polite manners form her friend, Sora slowly began to walk away, her feet taking her towards the nearby gate back to earth. "You're never a problem Mimi, well, most of the time you're not."

"Ha, ha." Came a dry reply from Mimi as she followed after her.

Standing behind them all as they left, Davis stared back over his shoulder into the vast desert around them. "Why Jun, what made you join him." the words getting swept away by a sudden gust of wind.

-------------------- 

Walking into the room, Jun smirked as she turned around, one arm resting on her hip as she surveyed the room with a dark look. Everything seemed to be in its place, the throne had been polished and positioned into the center of the room, a computer displaying a map of the digital world before it, and a plush carpet on the floor. "Perfect."

Behind her, Penmon smiled at her words, proud over the fact that he had succeed in making his very own digi destined partner happy. Then he frowned as he noticed her staring out the lone window with a trouble expression. "Jun, what's wrong?"

Turning her head at the question, Jun focused on her partner digimon and grinned. "Nothing, I was just thinking about our mission, and how we should complete it."

Stepping into the room at that precise moment, Arukenimon chuckled a bit, as she looked around the room. "Our first task should be to re-power the Control Towers." Her voice commanding as she dragged a finger across the top of the desk. "After that, we should find these temples that your master seeks."

Her smile fading away at Arukenimon's tone of voice, Jun sneered a bit as she walked over to sit in her throne. "Perhaps, or shouldn't we simply destroy the digi destined before they become a problem."

Rising an eyebrow, Arukenimon gave a small laugh. "I agree with you, it's clear that they will destroy my precious creations to save this pathetic world." Sneering as she spoke the last word, Arukenimon turned and walked over to the door. "I'll be looking into something private, in the meantime, you can work on getting your forces ready."

Glaring after the digimon when she left, Jun growled darkly, her eyes narrowed as she stared down at the computer screen's map. Three red squares showing what parts of the digital world the temples were placed at. "This alliance Arukenimon, only stands as long as I need you to keep those brats busy, and when the master enters this world again, I'll finish you off, for good." Chuckling slightly, Jun leaned back in her throne, enjoying how it cloaked her face in the shadows dramatically. "No wonder that fool enjoyed this chair so much."

On the floor, Penmon shook his head as Jun started to laugh in a rather demented manner. But who was he protest, at least his partner wouldn't become a traitor like Blackgatomon's had. That weak-minded creature had begun to like her partner too much, and allowed him to become to soft.

Staring at Jun, a dark look crossed his face as he grinned. There was now way he would repeat that failure that he was sure off.

-------------------- 

A light rain fell from the sky as the messy haired boy and young girl walked down the sidewalk in silence, both of them wondering what the reaction would be like to the return of the messy haired boy.

Turning his head a bit, Tai watched the same old places he remembered seeing as he was dragged from his home by Myotismon's forces in the early morning hours. "Strange, I couldn't care less about those places four years ago, and now, I'm thinking of them as old friends."

Lifting an eyebrow, Kari shook her head a bit. "That's just caused your unsure about all of this." Her hand stroking Gatomon nestled in her arms, pretending to be a stuffed toy. "But that's okay, I would feel the same way if it was me."

Simply grunting in response, Tai focused on the building growing slightly bigger in the distance, the sight of it filling him with a sense of dread. Several thoughts running through his head all at once, most of them focused on how his parents would react to his return, would he feel welcome after such a long time?

"Wait a sec." Kari spoke out as she reached into her pocket after her D-terminal as it gave a loud beeping sound, her eyes going over the screen slowly as soon as she opened it. "It's from Izzy, he wants to have a meeting at our place." Her eyes moving over to Tai for a sec, she groaned a bit. "He also wants to take a closer look at you."

Freezing in his tracks, Tai shot a scared look. Clearly remembering some of the looks the red haired boy had shot his way every now and then. "I don't care how important it is, I'm not spending time alone with him."

In Kari's arm, Gatomon smacked a paw onto her head and stared at the messy haired boy with a strained expression. "Not like that, all he wants to know is how you got infected with the virus to begin with. Maybe even take a sample."

Getting a more relaxed expression, Tai shot his eyes back at them. "And just how will he do that?" His voice showing a bit doubt despite his more relaxed appearance.

"Eh!" Gatomon replied as she shrugged, her interest in the matter already gone. Her fur was getting damp from the air and she wanted to curl up on something soft and dry off while napping. "Kari, are we home yet." Her protest getting vocal as the wind began to send more water at her.

Looking form her brother to Gatomon, the girl sighed and focused on the building up ahead. "It won't be long Gatomon."

The door loomed before them, the metal painted in a common green color with a simple nameplate attached to the concrete wall next to it.

Before it, two persons hesitated at the sight. One from a long time absence from the apartment beyond the door, and the sudden feeling of dread as he realized he was returning home to a family who believe he was dead, and had been for fours years. The other one from the sudden thought of just how her parents would react to the boys presence there, and how she was going to explain it to them, she didn't even understand it herself.

Reaching out a hand slowly, she rested her fingers on the doorknob and began to turn it, giving a sudden surprised cry as the door was flung open from the inside, the outline of a angry woman becoming clear through light streaming out from the room behind her.

"Hikari Yagami! Do you know what time it is?"

Stumbling back, Kari winced at the dark look in her mothers face, all thoughts of how she should tell them about it all vanishing as soon as she met her mother's angry face. "Mom, I, you see, it was." Her brain failing to come up with a good opening line as she tried to explain it anyway.

Snapping her eyes away from Kari, she stared harshly on the boy behind her daughter. "And you, do you have an explanation for why my..." Trailing off, she stared more closely at the boy. Her body going cold as she recognized each feature of him, despite the changes brought on by the years, The messy hairstyle, the clothes and the goggles were the same, but the body, it was older, but still his. "No, it can't be. You're dead, you're dead."

Slowly stepping forward, Tai stared at the woman who he had barely thought off in the last four years, the long ponytail colored the same as his hair, the same eyes. "Mom?" Reaching out, he felt a stabbing feeling in his heart when she stumbled back from his hand. "Come on mom, it me, Taichi."

Staring at Tai, the world seemed to vanish under her feet as her hand reached out to grab the wall to support her. Missing it as she fell down onto her back, darkness greeting her as she fainted.

Looking down at their mother, Tai and Kari sighed in sync as they stepped into the apartment. "That could have gone better you know."

The sound of the apartment door opening caused the two of them turn away form the door, and focus their attention on the entryway as a older man walked, a briefcase in one hand and a newspaper in the other. "Yuuko, Hikari, I'm home!" Yelling out the words, the man turned around and stared at the sight of his wife out cold on the couch, his daughter and a boy standing next to her. "Yuuko, Kari what happened to her!"

Then his eyes moved form his daughter to the boy who stared at him with a hesitant gaze. A very familiar hairstyle, one he had only seen his son run around with. Even as the thought ran through his head, he could feel the pain, the sadness at losing his son. And anger towards the kid who dared to have the same hairstyle as his precious Taichi had "Who are you?!"

Staring at the sight of his father towering up over him, Taichi stepped back a bit and gave a small nervous grin as he felt his sister elbow him in the side. "Um, hi Dad. I'm, home again."

Eyes narrowing a bit, the man stared more closely at the messy haired boy, ignoring the sound his briefcase and newspaper made as they hit the ground. "Taichi" Grabbing the shoulders of the boy, he stared more intently at the brown eyes. "It is you, isn't it?"

Looking bit sad, Tai lowered his head a bit. "Yes."

Whatever else he might have said was drowned out as he was pulled into a hug. "You're back, but how!" The words heavy with emotion as he continued to hug him, but still, he couldn't beat back the doubt nagging at him, that this was just another one of his dreams, that he would still have to wake up and face the fact that his son was dead.

"It's a long story." Tai replied after a short while, looking over at Kari as he was released from his fathers hug. "And it is partly thanks to Kari."

-------------------- 

Staring at the phone, Mimi shook her head a bit as replaced it back onto the holder. "Well, they'd allowed me to stay here one day, but then they want to come back home, no matter what."

Looking up from her homework, Sora gave a quick grin at her. "Well, you did disappear for a long time." Then she turned a bit more serious as he closed the math book, and moved fully around to face her friend. "Mimi, how do you feel? Now that Tai is back to normal."

Turning her attention away form the phone, Mimi shrugged as she grabbed a pillow and hugged it. Her eyes un-focusing a bit as she leaned back onto the futon she had been given to sleep on. "Not sure, I don't know I should feel." Hugging the pillow a bit closer to her, she closed her eyes. "I barely know him, well, the real him, all I've really seen of him was the dark power hungry monster he was in the digital world."

Walking over to sit next to Mimi on her bed, Sora smiled a bit as she pulled Mimi up to sit next to her. "Hey, I knew a long time ago, and back then, he was the best friend I had, a bit impulsive now and then, but really, he knew what he was doing." Turning to face her desk, Sora reached out and pulled out a small photo from it. "This is from the last soccer camp I attended, that's where I met him."

Staring at the picture of a group of messy kids, Mimi giggled as it was rather easy to spot Tai on it, he was the only who looked like he hadn't combed his hair in years. Then she spotted Sora standing a bit away form him on the photo, a slightly cranky expression on her face, and a bandage around her knee. "Sora, is this from when you, hurt your knee?"

Frowning a bit at her question, Sora turned her attention back to the photo and stared at herself on it. "Yeah, I got it in the last real test match we had." Seeing Mimi's expression, Sora groaned a bit as it became clear she couldn't escape explaining it to her. "I made a mistake near the end when Tai shot a ball to me, I jumped to avoid getting tackled, and I landed on the ball instead of the ground." A slight grimace on her face as she remember hitting the ground with her knee first, then landing face down in the half dry mud right after that.

It was the sound of Mimi laughing that broke her out of her thoughts, seeing the girl staring at her while a single tear of laughter ran down her cheek. "What?"

Getting her laughter under control, Mimi stared at Sora as she took the picture from her. "Sorry, it was just. What you were saying, it reminded me of an American cartoon I once saw." The last was barely heard as Mimi continued to laugh.

"Ha, ha." Sora replied as she replaced the photo back onto her desk. "So, just what did you do while you were held prisoner by Tai? You never did tell us much about it." Her voice filled with curiosity as she noticed Mimi look away rather quickly at the question, slightly blushing. "So, something did happen?"

Still not facing Sora, Mimi grumbled a bit as she focused on the pillow she had dropped on the floor. "He didn't really treat me as a prisoner, well, for the first week he did, after that. He said I was his dark queen and that I should rule the digital world along with him and his master."

Laugh dying down; Sora stared at Mimi as she moved closer to her. "You mean that?" Disbelief plain in her voice as she spoke, not really sure how to related to what Mimi had told her. "That's different." Looking a bit unsure, Sora refocused her attention on the wall as she gave a small cough. "Anyway, things should be back to normal again soon."

Turning her eyes a bit, Mimi stared at Sora as she walked back over to her math book. "I hope so too. But still, I just have this feeling that things are going to get more messed up then before." Her voice barely heard as she moved down onto the futon for a bit. "I just wonder, whatever happened to Blackgatomon?"

-------------------- 

Sitting uncomfortably in the chair, Tai stared at his parents across from him. They had both stayed silent through most of the story he had told them. Only asking a few questions every now and then.

Yuuko looked up as soon as her oldest child stopped talking and turned to face her husband, to see what his reaction was to the story they had been told. "Susuko?"

Feeling his wife look, Susuko planted a hand on top of hers, a bit of hesitation in his eyes as he returned them to look at his boy. "I don't know what to say, it sounds rather, strange to but it mildly. You getting bit by a vampire, who are not really a vampire, but just someone infected by a virus that makes him drink blood."

Moving a bit under the dark look he was given, Tai looked over at his sister for help, noticing that both she and Gatomon where standing in the doorway. "Kari?"

Turning her attention to her daughter, Yuuko stared down at the white feline like digimon. "And that you, Kari, are involved with the digital world again." Her voice a bit angry as she looked at Gatomon. "Why didn't you tell us?"

Rubbing a hand through her hair as Gatomon moved a bit further into the room, Kari looked down at the ground, as she couldn't face the glare from her mother. "I didn't know how you would react, you where both hurt by what Myotismon did to Tai four years ago." Her voice faltering a bit as she gazed at her brother, seeing the pained look in his eyes at what had happened four years ago. "We tried to get there in time, but we got attack by Phantomon and his friends halfway there."

Moving his gaze away rather fast, Tai rubbed hand over his neck; it wasn't the happiest moment of his life. The look on the vampire digimons face when he had learned that Tai was related to the eight digi destined. It had been a sadistic one to put it mildly.

"Okay." Susuko almost yelled out as he stood up. "So, you didn't die four years ago, but ended up turning into a vampire like creature and set out to conquer a different dimension." His voice having a rather strained edge to it as he spoke, a deep hint of doubt behind the words he spoke.

Shrinking back a bit in the chair, Tai cast a worried look from one of them to the other as they waited for an answer to their last sentence. "Yeah, but I didn't go to the digital world right away, we tried, but somehow it had been blocked, and we had to wait almost a year to a year and half."

Rubbing a hand on the sides of her head, Yuuko sighed a she leaned back in her own chair. "So why didn't you come home, or you contact us at least?"

Looking rather guilty at her words, Tai found the floor more interesting all of a sudden as his eyes focused on it. Already knowing the next words would make them even more upset. "I didn't want too at the time, all I cared about was keeping that madman away from you, and then, it became a desire to help him take over the digital world, more so for my own sake."

Closing his eyes, Susuko sighed for the untold time and stood up. "Okay, it's getting late, I'm tired and hungry." Looking at his family, he shook his head, he sighed deeply. "We'll talk about it some more later on, but for now, I want to sit down and think this through." Staring over at his son, he nodded a bit. "It is nice to have you back Tai, but we just need to get over the shock before we can, talk about it."

Leaving the room, Susuko looked back over his shoulder as Yuuko stood up and followed him as well. His wife stopped in the doorway and looking back at Tai as well, a bit hesitant as she had already had a tearful hug with him when she woke up earlier. "There's some leftover in the fridge, please help yourself."

Walking fully into the room as soon as the adults left, Kari sat down in the chair her father had left. "Sorry." the word leaving her mouth even before she had settled down.

Facing her, Tai didn't say a word as Gatomon jumped up to sit on the table, her blue eyes staring at him with a bit of sympathy in them as well. "Don't be, I kind of expected this."

Staring at him with surprise, the girl and digimon shared a look between them before turning back to face the messy haired boy with a demand for an explanation in their eyes.

Seeing it, Tai shook his head as he stood up, walking over to look into the fridge with a hesitant look on his face. The memory of his moms less then perfect, cooking skills, were something he wouldn't forget. "Think about Kari, they thought I was dead, and had come to terms with it, and then I show back up and tell them I wasn't dead at all."

Getting a more understanding expression on her face, Kari turned back to watch Gatomon stare at Tai. "Well, I kind of hope that they would just accept you had come back." Staring at her brother, Kari leaned back in the chair and grinned a bit. "But, they didn't throw you out, so, I'm sure they just need to think about it a bit more."

"Maybe." Came the response from Tai as he pulled out a bowl of green, ramen like stuff and stared at it with a doubtful expression. "What is this stuff?"

Looking over at the bowl, Kari shuddered a bit. "Trust me, you don't really want to know that."

Replacing it back into the fridge, Tai settled for eating some of the salad instead. Hoping that it wouldn't kill him despite the weird flavor to it. "So, when will the others show up tomorrow."

-------------------- 

Rubbing his head, the orange dinosaur like digimon looked around the place he was in. It looked far too different from where he could remember he had been last. It sure didn't have those mountains in the distance, or a wide ocean to the right of them.

The last thing he could remember was going to talk with a group of Elecmons, trying to find out if the rumors of a human trying to take over the digital world were real. There had been some kind of commotion, screams as everyone ran away from him in a sudden panic, and then nothing. And now, he found himself lost in a place he had never been to before.

The other digimons with him had shared the same confused expression and puzzlement as him. But there had been those who had mentioned a human child calling himself the digimon Emperor. They had also said it was a dark ring that had turned them into slaves, and most likely him as well.

Kicking the remains of a dark ring before him, the orange dinosaur like digimon began to walk away from the place. His eyes trained on a strange black pillar rising up over the barren land before him. Strange as it was, he could remember seeing another one shortly before his blackout, but he had no idea what it was, or who had planted it there.

Forcing his mind back on track, the digimon picked up the pace as he power walked down the side of the hill. He couldn't hang around here anyway. His partner needed him, why else would he be feeling this strong urge to find him. Rubbing a hand on the side of his head again, the digimon wondered where his friend was, and where his partner was.

TBC: Dark Alliance: Part 1

AN: Another chapter done in this story. And with just as poor a description of Magnamon's battle as in the last one. Well, rejoice, for now I can start to stop following the plotline of season 2 so closely, and focus on making it fit my ideas a bit better.


	11. Part XI

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Summery: AU, very AU and dark, with mentioning of torture, violence and blood drinking.

Taichi's been disowned by the master and barely escaped both his execution and the destruction of his castle as Jun and the Digimon Emperor battled for supremacy of that area. In the battle, the Emperor revealed his new great weapon, Kimeramon. And in the real world, Oikawa Ukyou approached the master with an offer of alliance or destruction.

------------------------------------

Spawn of the vampire  
Part IX  
Dark Alliance: Part 1

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Izzy Izumi, holder of the crest of Knowledge, stared around at the group of kids. "Okay, as you all know, Ken has been defeated, and Tai is no longer a threat." As he spoke, he avoids staring at Kari who frowned at the way he spoke of her brother. "We now have a new enemy, Jun, and action will be needed to stop her before she cause to much destruction."

"So why are we sitting here, let's get going and stop her." Davis cried out as he jumped out of the chair, his digivice ready to open the gate to the digital world.

Simply smiling a bit, Izzy leaned on the desk in his room, crossing his arms across his chest. "That's simple Davis, because we need to clean up the digital world as well."

Looking a bit confused and unsure, Davis shrugged a bit as he looked at Izzy. "Come on, isn't it better to defeat her before we start cleaning up."

"No." Came the simple response from Izzy as his eyes narrowed a bit.

Lightly coughing, TK stepped forward a bit, Patamon resting on top of his hat. "I agree with Davis Izzy, while the digital world could use a hand in the clean up after Ken, it is more important to stop Jun." Looking a bit pleased at what he had said, he looked back at the group that nodded in agreement.

Coughing as well to get their attention, Yolie crossed her own arms across her chest. "Besides, I was hoping we could get some time off, I'm starting to fall behind on some of my homework."

Looking like their comments hadn't affected him, Izzy sighed and pushed himself off the desk. "Time off, stop Jun." Looking at each of the new digi destined, he smiled a bit strained. "You know, the need for a clean up, is basically your own fault! You tore the digital World apart fighting Ken!!" Huffing as he stopped yelling, he noted they had all backed up. "And we don't know where Jun is, and until we find her, we can't stop her."

Holding up a hand to stop their protests, Izzy looked at the computer screen behind him. "Now, I'm looking for her right this moment, but until I do get a lead on her, you can clean up the mess you made." Eyes glinting darkly as he turned back to face them, he smiled evilly as he stepped away from the computer. "Now, get going."

Nodding dumbly, the digi destined lifted up their digi vices, ready to yell out the phrase that would send them right into the digital world. "Kari, hold on a minute."

Stepping back from the group, Kari looked over at Izzy with a confused expression on her face. "Yeah?"

Grapping his laptop, Izzy slipped it over his shoulders as he faced her. "Is your brother home, I need to discuss something with him."

Looking a bit unsure, Kari looked form the older boy to the computer. "He should be, but I don't know if it a good idea, he still torn up over what he did." Not to mention the crummy reception he got from mom and dad when he showed up. Shaking away the thoughts, she noted Izzy had an urgent look on his face. "Well, he should be there, just don't make him upset, got it?"

Nodding with a smile on his face, Izzy walked over to the door. "I got it, and try to keep Davis and TK from fighting, the digital world needs to be repaired, not destroyed some more."

-------------------- 

For the digimon residing in Santa Cera, life hadn't been easy lately. Their village had been overrun by the digimon Emperor twice, the whole town enslaved and force to become part of his slave labor and army the first time, the second time it had been destroyed by Kimeramon's march. And now, only about one day after their freedom had been returned to them, they were once again in need of help, but this time, it was for survival, not liberation.

"Dark Side Attack!"

A massive explosion tore up parts of the town as a wave after wave of missiles impacted several buildings and streets. The digimons able to survive staring up in terror as a evil dragon type digimon flew overhead, a lone human standing on its back as a cold, inhuman laughter filled the air.

Stumbling down onto his knees, the leader of the village, Gabumon, partner of Yamato Ishida, known as Matt to his close friends, cried out in anger at the seemingly useless act of destruction wrought by this young girl.

As the screams rose in terror, Gabumon rose to his feet and stare dup at the approaching dragon digimon. "Why are you doing this?" His voice barely heard by anyone, but still, the dragon digimon halted its advance, as the human girl on its back stepped out for him to see her clearly.

Cracking a whip slightly in the air, a cold smile formed as she looked down at the digimon before her. "To send a message, tell your partner that unless these so called new digi destined brats shows up at this location before the end of this day." At that statement, a folded up map was thrown down at him. "I will continued my quest of destruction across the digital world."

Gabumon stumbled back as her statement was followed by another wave of destruction from Megadramon's cannon arms, several building crumbling down in a fiery blaze. "Not again." The words leaving his mouth as another good friend from the village was deleted right before him. "Why must we always face such evil?"

The sudden crackling feel of a whip hitting him brought him back around to look up at Jun, her face showing just how much she enjoyed the destruction and carnage around her. "Remember, tell them I want them to show up, or another village will be destroyed." Jun's laughter filled the air as the dark dragon digimon flew further down to spread more destruction and chaos.

Struggling up form where he lay on the ground, Gabumon faced the direction of the only TV set in the whole sector. Even if it hurt to move as much as a claw, he would have to get to Matt, make him bring help here, or the whole town would be destroyed, again.

-------------------- 

Sitting silently in the living room, Tai stared out the window and into the early autumn day. Wondering how he could get the day to pass faster. As it was, it didn't even seem like five hours had passed, but more like five days. The only company he'd had all day was a stuffed toy, and a cat that kept on giving him a curious glance every second or so. "What?"

Stumbling back at the question, the cat bolted from the room with its tail hanging close to the ground. Leaving Tai with a smirk on his face. "Still got it." He grinned as he leaned back some more, and nearly screamed as he came face to face with a familiar set of soft brown eyes framed by a curtain of pink hair.

Getting himself back under control, Tai sat up and smiled at Mimi as she moved around the couch to sit in one of the chairs in the room. "Don't do that again."

Moving her hair back from her eyes as she spoke, Mimi smirked a bit herself as she grinned. "So, now that you've joined us, you settle for scaring the daylights out of a poor defenseless cat instead of plotting world domination?" Her voice sarcastic and full of laughter as she spoke at him, but frowning as she saw the look he sent her in return. "Sorry"

Shrugging a bit, Tai leaned back in the chair again, closing his eyes as he listened to the silently apartment, and the sound of his and Mimi's breaths. "Nothing else to do, mom left about an hour ago, and Kari's at school and I haven't seen dad since last night." Leaning his head to the side, he smiled at her. "So what's with the pink hair color, I thought you got rid of that back in the digital world?"

Smiling back at him, Mimi lifted up one of the pinks looks of hair and let it run through her fingers slowly. "I did, but only because you didn't have any pink hair dye in your castle."

"Oh." Came the simple reply from Tai as he shook his head. He never had asked about her hair color doing all the time he had claimed her as his dark queen. Had he even bothered to try and find out anything about her doing that time. "So, what brings you over, I thought you were going home today?"

Seeing the slightly uncomfortable look on his face, Mimi settled for looking out the window for a bit. "Yes, but, I didn't feel like spending the whole day sitting around waiting." Taking a slightly deep breath as she finished talking, her eyes drifted back to look at the messy haired boy. "So, how do you feel?"

Smiling a bit depressed at her question, Tai turned his attention to the cloud filled sky outside. "Not sure, I'm glad to be back, but I don't really feel at home here." Standing up, the messy haired boy walked over to lean on the window still as he sighed. "Everything's changed, mom and dad were happy, but, they also seemed confused, and scared over my return."

Staring at the messy haired boy, Mimi felt a bit of sadness move through her as well. Well, there was only one thing to do in a case like this. "Come on." Grabbing his arm, Mimi smiled as she pulled him over towards the main door. "You need to come out of this gloomy apartment."

Looking a bit confused at what she was saying. Tai stared as he saw her pull on a light summer jacket, one hand reaching down to pull out a D-terminal from her pocket. "What are you doing?"

"Taking you out." Mimi replied as she punched in a quick message on the D-terminal, hitting the send button after a few seconds. Closing it back up, she turned around and smirked at him. "Well, are you going to get ready, or don't you want to go out with me?"

Grinning a bit, Tai took a hold of the door handle, lifting up his keys as he smirked back at her. "Well, I'm not one to refuse an invitation from my queen." Opening the door, he swept his hand wide at it. "Ladies first."

Holding back a giggle as she stepped out through the door, Mimi looked back at Tai. "You know, you're a lot nicer now then you were back in the digital world, not to mention funnier." The sound of the door getting locked, made her sigh a bit as she cast a quick look out over the city. "I really want to get to know you a bit more, but I have to go back home tonight, and, my parents might prevent me from entering the digital world again."

Getting a slightly depressed look at what she was said, Tai stuffed his hands into his pants pockets and began to walk slowly forward with her next to him. "Don't know why you want to have anything to do with me, I hurt you, your digimon and your friend as well."

Mimi didn't respond as she continue to walk next to him, her eyes half closed as she thought about it as well, finally smiling a bit as she looked over at him. "You couldn't help it, Gennai told me you were infected by a virus, that corrupted you until you became that monster."

"Still." Tai started, only to stop as he felt Mimi grab his arm. "Hey?"

Not facing him as she pulled him along, Mimi eyes narrowed in a slightly annoyed frown. "I didn't come here to see you wallop in despair." Pushing the button for the elevator, she grinned a bit. "Now, we're going out for a small walk, and you're going to enjoy it, no more feeling bad until you get back home."

Blinking his eyes as he heard the command, Tai shrugged as the doors to the elevator opened, letting him get dragged in by Mimi as she stepped forward. Only as the doors closed and the trip down to the ground floor started, did he think of something to say. "Where are we going anyway?"

-------------------- 

At the same time in Tomadachi, a young boy was sitting in a small chair, his eyes staring almost lifelessly at the computer screen before him. "Wormmon." Muttering the name of his digimon partner, he gasped in pain as he felt a wave of regret and despair rush through him.

Outside the room, his parents were standing with a slightly worried expression on their faces. Ever since their son had returned in the middle of the night, he had been acting strange, shutting himself up in shell. Not really telling them anything of where he had been, or what he had done while he had been gone. All he had been doing was staring at the computer screen before him.

Inside the room, Ken Ichijoji, formerly the digimon emperor clenched a hand tightly around a black colored digivice, cursing the day he ever got it. The day he went to that blasted Dark Ocean. "Why did I go there, why can't I remember it?" Sitting up, he frowned and gave another deep sigh.

He was getting nowhere, and he had a high lack of sleep, since spending the night suffering from nightmares of all he had done in the last year, had left him with too little sleep. "Wormmon, I need to find Wormmon." Pushing himself away form the bed, the dark blue haired boy face the computer screen with a confident expression, masking the deep fear and doubt in his heart.

Maybe, he could find the answers he was looking for, in the digital world.

-------------------- 

Matt kept to the shadows as he looked at the two people walking up ahead of him. The other may be willing to give him some trust, since they had Gennai's word, that he hadn't been himself. But who was to say he wouldn't get a relapse. And after seeing Michael, he was not going to let him run around unsupervised, he would watch him like a hawk, stalk him like a wolf. And at the first sign of trouble, he would beat him into the ground.

Further down the street, hiding behind a newspaper, Sora stared at Matt, a frown on her face as she followed after her boyfriend, watching him stalk Tai and Mimi.

And un-a-where of it all, Tai and Mimi still walked down the street, talking about the places they could remember. And what they had meant to one another in the past. But slowly, Tai was starting to become a where of one thing, they were slowly heading towards a large building, a building with big windows on the ground and second floor, a building with a lot of people coming and going from it with lots of bags in their hands.

This could only mean one thing, he was going to put through what Jun had called a girly afternoon trip, what he had heard someone refer to as a guy's nightmare when he had still been attending school. "We're not going to the mall are we?" A hint of panic entering his voice as he questioned her about it.

Lifting her head with a startled expression, Mimi focused on the building in the distance, a smile growing on her face as she slowly lowered the potted plant she had been looking at. "Mall?" Then her mouth opened in a wide grin as he fingers began to itch after a trip to the mall, it had been five months since she had last been in one, and she was just dying to see what the current fashion was in Tokyo. "Let's go!"

Cursing his mouth, Tai wondered if he had remembered to do his daily workout lately, he would need it, he could feel it, judging by her smile, he would be flat broke, not that he wasn't to begin with, it would be more like indebted for life to the different stores, but also suffering from a broken back from dragging home her shopping bags.

Seeing the scared look in her companions face, Mimi nearly broke down laughing. It was that funny to see such a look on someone who had wanted to take over an entire world. "Don't worry, I won't pay that much." Smiling as she spoke, she began to pull him towards the stores. "But you're still carrying your part of the stuff, got it."

Looking a bit relieved at what she had said, Tai still couldn't shake the feeling that he was being dragged towards something similar to a firing squad.

Further back, Matt dashed across the street, keeping a good distance to them as they vanished into the mass of people going in and out of the shopping mall. Looking up at the sign above the doorway, Matt gulped, he had never really been to the mall before, only when he needed something and this was the only place to get it. But to ensure that Mimi was safe, and Yagami wouldn't go off on another senseless quest of violence, he would enter this place.

And even longer behind him, Sora tossed away her newspaper as she saw her boyfriend enter the mall, a place she had been visiting a bit lately, but had been unable to drag him into too. And now it seem, all it took was Mimi dragging her boyfriend into one to make him enter it as well. "Matt, you better have a damn good explanation for this."

Inside the mall, Tai had relaxed a bit, as it seemed things were not as bad as he had heard. Mimi wasn't dragging him through every shop in sight or forcing him to hold everything. In fact, it was rather pleasant just walking like this, checking out the various things on display.

Holding up a pink sweater with a gold star on it, Mimi smiled as she posed a bit with it held out before her, the reflection of her in the glass window was rather poor, but still good enough to give her a hint of what she would look like with it on.

Putting it back down, she turned and grabbed Tai's hand for a second, showing that she wanted them to move on. "Let's check out that place over there." Even as she spoke, she stopped as she spotted a very familiar looking person reflected in the shop window.

Turning around to check it, she faced Matt standing over by the other shop, his eyes locked on Tai as the messy haired boy stared down at the floor with a tired expression. Frowing a bit, she turned back around and grabbed Tai's arm in a slightly less gentle hold. "Come on, let's go look at some of the other places."

Getting a confused expression at her sudden tense behavior, Tai stared as she started to drag him towards another store nearby, looking back over her shoulder from time to time. "Is something wrong?"

Staring at him with a startled look, she quickly smiled and shook her head. "No, it was nothing, just thought I saw someone I know." Shooting a look over her shoulder as she spoke, she glared at Matt as he continued to follow after them in a safe distance, feeling a bit of anger as she thought of going back to tell him to stop stalking them.

"Matt Ishida, what are you doing here?" Sora's voice cut through the air as Matt had moved out to follow after the other two again, his eyes growing big as he turned to face his girlfriend standing right behind him with an angry expression on her face. "Well?"

Opening his mouth to reply, matt froze as he felt someone else looking at him. "I would like to know that too." The words making him gulp as he found Mimi and Tai staring at him with various expressions.

Quickly taking a chance not to be thought of as a stalker, Matt grabbed Sora's shoulders in a gentle grasp. "Would you look at that Sora, there's the shop we were looking for." Tilting his head to face Tai and Mimi, he began to push the orange haired girl into the store he had spoken off. "Well, we'll be seeing you two later, okay."

Opening her mouth a bit, Mimi shook her head as she felt like rubbing it in completely puzzlement. "They shop for lingerie together?" Mimi questioned as she watched Matt and Sora walk down towards the more, risky part of the story. "Gee, who would had thought?" Her voice thick with sarcasm and doubt in the blond haired boy's explanation.

Staring up at the sign, Tai blinked as he saw Matt wave friendly at them while pushing Sora down an aisle. "I didn't know they were that close together." Getting a more depressed look, he sighed as he turned to face Mimi again; the slightly less puzzled look on her face. "I can't believe I missed out on something like that."

"Nor can I." Mimi replied as she started to walk off along with Tai. A small voice telling her that that it wouldn't be the last time something like that would happen.

Inside the store, Sora slapped Matt's hand of her shoulders as she rounded on him with raw fury in her eyes. "Explain Matt, why are you following her?"

Puzzled at her accusation for a second, Matt narrowed his eyes back at her as he crossed his arms defiantly. "I'm not following her, I'm keeping an eye on him." Looking out the store, Matt focused on Tai and Mimi as they walked off. "I don't trust him, not after what he did."

Sighing loudly, Sora stepped back and turned halfway around to face something else but him. "Can't you at least give him a chance, he's barely gotten back and you're already spying on him." Her voice slightly edged as she crossed her own arms in a defiant way. "He's my friend."

Not moving his eyes away from his target, Matt grumbled a bit. "Was your friend you mean, he's not the same anymore." As soon as he spoke those words, he cast a look over at Sora. "Look, I'm not going to let my guard down, not until I know that I can trust him 100 per cent."

Spinning back around at that comment, Sora eyes flashed with anger again. "So, you're saying you can't trust me, your own girlfriend, 100 per cent?" Seeing Matt's startled expression, she continued. "Don't deny it, if you can't even trust my judgment of him, then you don't trust me at all."

"But?" Matt started to say, but stopped as Sora had already stormed off with a dark look on her face. Sighing a bit as he lowered his head, the blond haired boy turned to look back out the window. "What was that about?"

-------------------- 

The master grinned to himself as he moved back from the computer, a map of the digital world visible on the screen as he yawned loudly. Then he returned to studying it. "I finally found them, the remaining temples." Still grinning, he leaned his head back and stared up at the ceiling. "After so long a time I will finally get my revenge, and what should have been mine from the start."

A cold, biting snow filled wind wrapped around him as he stood on the top of the mountain, A small, Roman/Greek styled temple barely visible through the heavy snow storm. "You still seek to escape the human world." Snapping his head around at the sudden voice, he blinked as the wind continued to batter him. "I can help you with that, if you will do something for me in return."

Pushing the memory away, the master pushed back his chair and stood up, a dark look in his eyes as he walked over to the nearby window. "I never wanted to return to this ludicrous world." Clenching his hand around a small flower in the window, his eyes narrowed in pure anger. "This hopeless world with its mindless creatures!"

Out in the hallway, Oikawa smirked as he listened in on the master. "It would seem my houseguest, is suffering from an anger attack." Pushing away form the door, he quietly began moving towards the front door of the house. "It is something to be remembered, if it becomes necessary to ensure he sticks to the plan."

Stepping out into the bright sun filled summer day, Okinawa stuck both hands into his pockets. "But for now, I must see to some other interests." Laughing to himself, he walked off slowly, his eyes keeping a look out on the rest of the world, ready to judge it, and find a way to use any weakness he found, to his own personal gain.

-------------------- 

Smoke rose up from the ground as Mummymon watched a team of enslaved digimon struggling to pull open the doors of the so called digital barrier temples the master had located. It had only been by sheer luck he had been passing by this place, as his quest for the destiny stones had brought him to this point.

And thanks to the Imitamon's posing as the champion level virus digimons Vilemon, he had been able to force the village into submitting to his will. And truth be told, he enjoyed the power they gave him, the feeling of superiority. "She will be so happy to know that I've done something right, just wait Arukenimon, I'll show you that I'm worthy enough for you."

Laughing as he lifted up his gun, he pointed a hand towards the terrified village digimons forced into helping them dig up the buried temple. "Work faster, or do you want to join the guardian of this place untimely deletion?" Laughing a bit, his eyes flicked to the side where he spotted a pink bird like digimon sneaking around. "You there, who told you could take a break? Get back to work!"

Turning around in a startled expression, Biyomon gasped as she saw Mummymon's dark glare aimed right at her, several lesser evil digimons flaking him as they also glared at her. "I must warn Sora, get her to help stop this." Flapping her wings, she took off from the ground, giving up on trying to escape from the place unseen now that she had been spotted.

Lone eye blazing with anger at the rookie digimon's refusal to answer, and her attempt at escape, the evil digimon lifted up his shotgun and pointed it at her. "Necrophobia!"

Screaming in surprise, Biyomon found herself forced to duck several blue and red colored streams of powers shooting close by her, several of the moiré jagged parts of it leaving her slightly hurt by how close they got to her. Tugging her wings in, she dived down to escape the energy beams and smirked as she heard the digimon curse lightly.

Turning back to the group of digimons, Mummymon pointed as the nearest Imitamon's. "You two, get back to work, and get those slaves working again" Obeying him, the rest of the group returned to getting the enslaved digimons to work even harder on clearing away the earth hiding the temple.

-------------------- 

Back in the real world, Izzy sat in front of his computer, hands moving over the keys as he stared a at the map of the digital world closely. It was starting to look cleaner then before as several black colored squares had already turned back to white, signaling that the control towers in that place had been destroyed.

Moving over to his lab top, he frowned as he punched in some new numbers on it. Even at the rate they were going, it would take almost a year to clean up all the control towers and repair the digital world form the war against Ken. And who knew how much more damage would be done in the war with their new enemy.

Closing the lab top, Izzy frowned as he looked back at the computer screen. "I need more information to be able to come up with a good approach on this matter." And there was only one place to find this information, the former member of the evil group trying to take over the digital world.

Placing his lab top in a comfortable position on his back, he reached out to turn off his computer when two small windows popped up on it. "Gabumon, Biyomon?"

The digimons in question looked rather hurt as they both stared at the boy with a look of urgency in their eyes. "Trouble in my sector." Gabumon added as he looked over his shoulder. "Two humans are tearing up the place, told me to get the digi destined or they would completely destroy Santa Cera"

Biyomon coughed a bit as she looked around nervously as well. "I barely escaped a group of Vilemons coming here." Looking more serious then before, Biyomon shook the TV as she yelled out her warning. "A powerful digimon called Mummymon has attacked Iron City! He's forcing the digimons there to dig up an old temple for him."

Looking even more alarmed, Izzy grabbed his D-terminal and turned it on. "Stay where you are, I'll call the other digi destined and have them show up to help you ASAP."

-------------------- 

Less then half an hour later, Izzy turned around to face the large group of digi destined after having finished explaining things to them.

"You're kidding me?"

Izzy shook his head at Matt's outburst; he had expected something like that, but never really prepared for it. But even he was concerned at what he had learned in the last 30 minutes. "Both Gabumon and Biyomon confirmed it, our enemy have several powerful digimons working for them."

Punching the wall, Davis snarled as he looked at the computer screen showing Gabumon and Biyomon recovering. "Jun, she's making her move." Watching the rest of the large group, his eyes narrowed even more. "I don't care what happens, I'm going in to face her, right now."

"Davis!" TK warned in a slightly harsher voice then normal, his own eyes narrowed in anger as well. "We're all going, but we have to take precautions, we can't storm in."

Pulling his anger back under control, Davis nodded as he continued to finger his digivice, a desire to just go in fighting growing with each passing second. "Fine, but what about that other place, this Mummymon character? He's clearly looting one of the temples Taichi talked about."

Izzy nodded as he watched the map he had brought up on hid lab top. "That concerns me too, but there are some good things about that, the area he's in has never been subjected to a control tower."

Looking rather put off by that comment; Matt watched his partner smile back at him on the computer screen. "A good thing Izzy, those damn things are never good news, no matter where they are."

Coughing lightly as he ignoring the insulting tone, the computer wiz faced his lab top again. "What I meant Matt, is that Jun knows about the control towers, and might reactivate them." Watching the group as he talked, he pointed at the sector that Gabumon was in. "Santa Cere suffered heavily from Ken's path of destruction, and still has several control towers erected nearby."

Kari looked up as she listen at what he said, an understanding lighting in her head. "So if they turn them on, the digimons can't use their normal digivolution."

Izzy nodded as he stood up. "There fore I suggest that the digi destined whose digimons can armor digivovle go there, along with Matt. At the same time, me, Sora and Joe will tackle this Mummymon, he seems to have the least forces with him."

"And Mimi?" Joe asked as he looked around the room, with a light puzzled frown on his face. "She's still here in Tokyo, and one of our teammates, plus from what you told me, Palmon cam reach her ultimate level again.

Izzy nodded again as he sat down in the chair. "Yes well, I sent her mail, but she hasn't answered it yet."

Matt growled a bit as e stood up. "Must still be hanging out with Taichi." Turning to face the group, he narrowed his eyes a bit. "Still, we have to go and help the digimons, so Izzy, send her another message, and we'll see if she can spare us a few minutes to help out."

Looking slightly ticked off, Sora punched Matt on the arm as she held up her digivice. "Can it Matt, I'm sure Taichi won't hurt her, right?"

Noting that Sora and the rest of the group was facing her; Kari nodded fiercely as she stepped forward. "Right, you've seen how he is, he won't betray us. I know it."

Not feeling rather convinced, Matt turned to face the computer. "Whatever, Let's just do this, are you all ready?" Getting a sharp, confirming reply from them, Matt stared at the computer screen. "Then let's do it."

-------------------- 

Looking at a small screen, Jun smirked as she grinned to herself. Her brother and his friends had finally entered the digital world. Time to show them all just how much power she had finally gotten. "Arukenimon, they're here."

Moving away form the control spire she had been examining, Arukenimon smirked to herself, it was going to be so much fun to finally do what she had been prevented form doing. "Very well, leave the newest generation of brats to me, and you can handle the reruns." Running a hand through her hair as she spoke, the white haired woman pulled out three strands and grinned while lifting them up into the air. "Spirit Needle!"

At her attack yell, the three strands of hair stood up, and moved like it was in a breeze, before shooting forward to hit a control tower each. A deep, purple glow filling the air as they shattered and were drawn together, forming a much small shape. "That was one."

Jun smirked at her ally's words. "Nice, but check this out." At her words, she turned and picked up a small canister brought along just for this moment. "Okay, do your stuff little one." At her command, a transparent liquid seeped out and formed into a much larger version of the standard Imitamon. Turning to face her, it blinked its larges eyes as her digivice gave off bright glow, data streaming from its screen and into the Imitamon's body.

Growing in size, the digimon shifted around until it took on a more solid, and towering shape, the sight of the digimon making even Arukenimon raise an eyebrow. "Fine, you want to play, that's okay with me." Running her hands through her hair again, she pulled out a larger amount of hair strands. "Spirit Needle!"

Once again, a set of control spies tore themselves lose form the ground, breaking up and reforming into a digimons, this one hunched over with a dark look in its eyes.

Smirking, Jun lifted up her arm to summon another Imitamon, when her eyes spotted something at the corner of her field of vision. "Who's there!?" Yelling out the command, she turned around to see a shadow rapidly moving away from them. Darting into the broken up streets of the village. "Arukenimon, someone else is here."

Turning to face her partner in destruction, Arukenimon crackled with laughter. "Relax, most likely a digimon running for its life, nothing to worry about." Standing up in her full height, she smirked as she pushed her white hair out of her face with a small move of her hand. "Now, everything is set. Let us hope the digi destined scream extra loud as they are crushed into digi dust."

Laughing as well, Jun settled down into a cross-legged position, her whip resting against her cheek. "And after them, we'll destroy the rest of the worlds digi destined, no one will remain to challenge the master's rule of this world."

Arukenimon nodded absently in response as she looked up at the sky. "I wonder how dear little Ken is doing, now that he is no longer the digimon emperor, he is such a confused brat." Laughing, she walked over to look at a small TV set on the ground. "We have the place secured, and the trap is completely set now."

-------------------- 

Back on earth, Tai and Mimi dropped back down onto a park bench, a tired expression on their faces as they leaned back to stare up at the early evening air. "So, how do you feel?"

Turning his head to face her, Tai gave a smile as he relaxed for the first time in one hour. "It wasn't so bad, but don't count on me doing it again anytime soon." Frowning a bit as he said the last, Tai moved his head back to stare at a small group of kids nearby. "But really, I liked spending time with you."

Nodding in reply, Mimi looked over at the kiss as well, shrugging her shoulders as she sat up. "The same here, I just wish I had gotten a chance to meet you, before you became, well."

"A bad guy?" Tai added in as he sighed a bit, sinking down a bit. "I wouldn't have minded that either, I've missed so much because of what happened four years ago."

Giving him a sympathetic smile, Mimi leaned back again. "Cheer up, you have a chance to put that behind you, I'd say your doing your best at that."

Grinning a bit at the strange statement. Tai finally looked down at the ground as his mind went back over the last few days' events. "Thanks, but nothing will ever be the same, not without Blackgatomon."

Looking at the depressed boy from the corners of her eyes, Mimi took a slightly deep breath. Wondering if it was a good idea to ask him, but also feeling that it had to be done. "Tai, where is Blackgatomon, did she?"

Tai simply lifted his head up to face her, the look in his eyes telling her everything she needed to know about. "I'm sorry."

Smiling a bit at her sincere words, Tai smiled a bit again. "She was always there, protecting me, making me feel complete when I needed it, and now, she's gone, forever."

The words hit her hard, as she could feel the emotion behind them clearly. The small black feline digimon had tried to become her friend, and gone out of her way to make sure she would help her save this boy from the evil controlling him, and, now she was. "Digimons can't die, they return to primary village, to be reborn."

Pulling his arms in close around him, Tai shoo a bit as the first tears and bitter memories of that day came back to haunt him again. "She gone, she wasn't a real digimon, just one of the master's experiments, but she felt real to me, she had feelings, and now, it's not fair!!"

Shrinking back a bit at the outburst, Mimi stared at the strong willed boy as he curled up into a ball before her. She had never expected to face something like this. "But, how could she, she." Reaching out, she pulled him into a hug, ignoring the looks she got from the other people. "Let it out Tai, let it out."

-------------------- 

Mummymon turned away from his inspection of the central room of the temple ruins with a frown on his face. Secured in a small box before him was the core of this place, a simple task to secure it, it had still left him confused as he could almost imagine the power of the digimon it was made to look like.

But what really had him confused was the massive statue that had held it. Even with his back turned, he feel the stone eyes glaring at him. Shooting a look over his shoulder, he watched the bird like digimon statue for a few seconds, finally deciding to leave as the room in general had unnerved him greatly.

Watching the Imitamon's posing still posing as Vilemon, he grinned and walked off, taking the direct route to the entrance of the ruin. Not really caring about the writings on the wall, or the scenes they showed. "Arukenimon, be careful." Mumbling the small wish, he jumped out of the temple in a single move, landing gracefully on the ground.

Behind him, the fake Vilemons did the same, the box with the core held in their center as they landed and began to wait for further orders.

Turning around to face them, Mummymon eyes narrowed as he spotted six figures standing on the rocky hills surrounding the destroyed village. "The Digi Destined."

Sora smirked as she heard the words from the digimon, clearly he had not expected for them to show up so soon. "That's right, and whatever you're doing, you will stop it now." Shooting a look to her side, she saw that Izzy and Joe shared her same determined expression.

Smirking right back at her, Mummymon soon broke into a laugh as he watched the figures as they became easier to see from his position. "Nice try kid, but you outdated losers might have stood a chance, if your digimons could digivolve higher then Champion level."

Getting a slightly unsure expression at what he had just said, Sora quickly banished it as she focused on the digimon again, a look of anger flashing through her eyes. "We face down more powerful looking digimons then you, and we won over them all."

Lifting his shotgun, Mummymon grinned as the blue white beam shot out and blasted the rock apart below the human children, a scream of surprise reaching him as the kids tumbled down to land on the ground roughly. "Don't they teach you kids that looks aren't everything?"

Moving his attention to the fake Vilemons, he laughed as he pointed his free hand at the digimons and digi destined struggling to get up. "Get them, let none of them survive this."

Standing back up with a look of pain, Joe and Ikkakumon stared right at the advancing group of digimons with a trouble expression. "Can't we just for once have a nice easy battle?" The blue haired boy mumbled out as he backed off a bit. "Ikkakumon, stop them!"

-------------------- 

Standing around in a small circle, the new digi destined, Davis, Yolie, Cody, TK and Kari stared at the remains of what used to be Santa Cera. All around them, buildings lay broken as a few digimons wandered around in a daze. "How could they do this?"

The question from Yolie had the whole group glare as they thought the same thing. TK, turning his head, stared up at the mountains around them. "More importantly, when and where will they pull the same trick?" His voice strained with the anger he felt at the level of destruction. "Come on, we have to find them."

"What?" Davis asked in a surprised manner as he looked over at the blond haired boy. "Shouldn't we help these digimons first?" His voice a bit confused as he saw TK start to walk away. "Hey, where you going?"

Looking back over his shoulder, TK stood completely still, his hands clenched up at his sides. "To find who did this, and stop them from doing it again."

Stepping forward and planting a hand on his shoulder, Kari could feel just how tense TK was as he moved to continue walking up the side of the mountain. "TK, I agree that we should stop them, but right now, these digimons need help." Moving her hand to point out the many digimons who looked hurt, or was just in shock.

"My, My. Looks like they made it here."

Turning around at the arrogant tone of voice, the new Digi Destined glared up at the Megadramon hovering in the air, and at the person standing on its back. Dressed in a wine red digimon emperor like suit with a full cape, Jun laughed darkly as she looked at each of the younger kids before her. "Now, why don't you all bow down before me, The Digimon Queen."

Eyes narrowing in anger, TK snapped out a finger to point up at the elder girl on the dragon like digimon. "How could you do something like this, how can you destroy and slaughter innocent digimons like this?"

Giving the blond haired boy a bored look as he spoke, Jun breathed on the back of her fingers and rubbed her nails on her sleeve a bit while overlooking the area around her. "Are you done now?" Her bored expression turned vicious as she stood up in her full height while cracking her whip in the air. "I would have loved to kill you right now, but my ally would like to have a crack at you fools first."

Lifting up a finger, she pointed into the distance with a grin. "And she brought her own friends along, and they been dying to fight you losers."

Turning their heads to the side, the digi destined gasped as they spotted three digimons standing on the top of a burning ruin, all of them laughing as they began to move forward.

Crackling evilly as she noted the looks of surprise on the digi destined face, Jun swept a hand out to point at each digimon in turn. "Let me introduce them to you, first we have Hyougamon, his Ice Cudgel and Snow barrier will leave you longing for a hot summer day."

At her words, a blue colored Orgemon like digimon grinned as he stepped forward, a small cross like club of ice slug over his shoulder.

Moving her finger to the next one, Jun's eyes narrowed in glee as she recognized the digimon she had crafted from the Imitamon, and random data she had picked up. "Here the fiery star of eh show in my opinion, Darklizardmon, his Dark flare and Sniper fang will burn your digimons to digital ash." Her finger pointing at a lizard like digimon standing on its hind legs, its body looking it was made up of black colored fire with a small metallic mask on top of its head.

Her finger moving on to point at the last digimon, her eyes gleamed darkly as she grinned at the sight. "Completing this tag team of evil digimons, we have Thundermon, he may be small, but he packs more then a million volt in his body."

Smirking darkly as she lowered her arm, Jun stared at the digi destined with half closed eyes. "Three evil digimons, one for each of you newbie brats."

"Three?" TK asked puzzled as he looked at the group, then back at Jun as he reached down a hand for his digivice. "I think you counted us wrong, there's five of us." Grinning a bit, he lifted up his digivice and D-terminal. "Now, step down and surrender, or I'll force you too."

Nearly laughing at the tone of voice she was presented with from the young boy, Jun simply cracked her whip in the air, a dark shadow passing over her. "No, I counted you right Blondie, three for the newbie losers, and Saberdramon against you and the little girl."

Shooting out of the sky after passing overhead of his partner, Saberdramon shot down through the air and grabbed Kari in his claws, taking advantage of their too shocked to move state, to carry her away from the other digi destined. "TK Help me!!" But not fast enough to prevent her from calling for help.

Turning around as soon as he saw the bird/reptile like digimon fly off with Kari, TK clenched up hid hands, his head snapping around to look at Jun. "Let her go! Fight fair dammit!"

Looking un impressed, Jun simply motioned for Megadramon to fly off. "But I will, all I want, is for you tol follow him."

Still looking mor ethen angry at her casual and mocking tone, TK rushed off after Kari, her safety the first thing on his mind. "Davis, handle those digimons, I'll save Kari and come back to help you."

Looking a bit offended at TK's order Davis moved to follow after the blond haired boy. Only to draw back on shock as the three other digimons jumped down in front of them. "Dammit." Forcing a word of annoyance form him as he jumped back out of their reach.

Grabbing his digivice as soon as he landed, Davis held it out along with his D-terminal. "Everyone, Armor digivolve." At his command, his flipped open the D-terminal, smiling as the digiegg of friendship popped up on the small screen.

The same action repeated by the other digi destined as they also pulled out their own digivices and D-terminals. Four other digi metals showing up on each of the screen.

"Digi Armor Energize!"

Glowing brightly as the digiegg of friendship merged with him, Veemon grinned as he jumped up into the air. "Veemon, armor digivolve too, Raidramon, Friendships Storm!" The four legged, metal-covered reptile digimon landed on the ground.

Hawkmon, lifted up from the ground as the digiegg of sincerity merged with him, a bright light covering his body as it began to twist and turn. "Hawkmon armor digivolve too, Shurimon, Samurai of Sincerity!" The larger digimon form landing on the ground with his double stars held ready.

Glowing with white light as well, Armadillomon spun around as the digiegg of Knowledge filled him with it powers, causing him to double in size easily. "Armadillomon digivolve too, Digmon, the drill of Knowledge!" the light fading to reveal Digmon standing in the place of Armadillomon, his drill hands held up in attack position.

Smirking Arukenimon yelped and jumped back as a blue white beam lashed out at the place she had been standing at a split second before. "Who did that?"

Stepping out from behind a ruined building, Matt glared at the witch like human from his place on Garurumon's back. "We did, hope you don't mind us crashing your party?"

Smirking, Arukenimon grinned as her body twisted and slowly turned into a giant, six legged spider like body with a humanoid upper body. "No, it just means I get to hurt someone as well." Slapping out her arms, she grinned darkly as Garurumon jumped forward to attack her with another beam of bluish white energy beam. "Spider Tread!"

Looking down at the scene from a burnt, halfway ruined tower, a human boy frowned as he looked after the bird/reptile like digimon with its captive, and then at the three digimons facing off against the fake digimons. "This is worse then I had imagined. How could they have so much dark power as to do something like this."

On his shoulder, a small digimon looked down at the scene with a similar concerned look on its face. "You are going to help them right?"

Smiling a bit with as he petted the digimon, the boy nodded as he lifted up his digivice. "Of course, I owe it too them after all."

TBC: Dark Alliance: Part 2

AN: Things are moving into the second arc of my story at last, were things will be begin to make more sense now as the digi destined tackle an alliance of evil they had never expected, And an old foe turn up to help them, as the digital world face an even darker time.


	12. Part XII

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Summery: AU, very AU and dark, with mentioning of torture, violence and blood drinking.

Taichi's been disowned by the master and barely escaped both his execution and the destruction of his castle as Jun and the Digimon Emperor battled for supremacy of that area. In the battle, the Emperor revealed his new great weapon, Kimeramon. And in the real world, Oikawa Ukyou approached the master with an offer of alliance or destruction.

Special note: 'Thoughts'

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Spawn of the vampire  
Part XI  
Dark Alliance: Part 2  
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Running as fast as he could, Garurumon struggled to keep ahead of the attacking Arukenimon, the wolf like digimon long past the part of attacking, as she either avoided or blocked anything he shot at her. Her attacks on the other hand were fast, precise and hurt.

Laughing insanely as she landed on a wall, the spider woman like digimon sent another round of spider tread out to stop another wolf blaster attack, and then began to fling parts of the wall after the wolf. Ripping each bit of it lose with little effort. "Face it, you can't win against me."

At the words, Matt clenched up his fist and cast a worried look in the direction his little brother had run off in. "TK, be careful, it make be a it longer before I can help you." Returning his attention to the fight, he winced as Garurumon took a slab of stone right in the side painfully. "It's at times like these I really wish I still had my crest."

Jumping off the wall, Arukenimon snarled viciously as she smashed down on a recovering Garurumon, driving him back down into the ruined street. "Well, ready to give up, I can't waste all my time beating you, you know."

Shaking her off, Garurumon emerged from the small crater and growled as he shot her up closer with a wolf blaster, the blue fire hitting her right in the chest area. "I'll never give." The statement coming from Garurumon as he stopped firing at her.

Smoke and fire dying down, Arukenimon glared at the wolf life digimon as her arms moved out of her protective stance. "You really shouldn't have done that." Moving faster then her size would suggest her of being able too, she trusted one leg into the front part of Garurumon's body, while her left hand pounded him in the side as he got lifted up enough. "Acid Mist!"

Howling in pain as the attack seared through his fur, Garurumon struggled back down. Front legs barely holding him up as he moved back from the evil digimon. "Matt, she's too strong, I need help."

Off to the side, Matt bit a nail as he watched his digimon get pounded. There wasn't any time for this; they had to help TK and Kari. They couldn't waste any more time on that spider digimon. "Garurumon, retreat, we have to find TK." And no matter how much he hated it at the moment, they had to run away from her.

Grinning as the Wolf like digimon suddenly bolted past her, Arukenimon jumped up onto a wall, and down in front of both Matt and Garurumon. One hand grabbed the front of the blond haired boy's shirt as her legs kicked down Garurumon viciously. "Well, now what." Opening her mouth, she grinned as she prepared to shot the boy with a venom mist attack right in his face, or maybe the more painful and destructive acid mist attack of hers.

"Spiking Strike!"

Screaming out in pain, her head shot back around in time to see a green insect like digimon fly off into the distance, the blond haired boy held in his arms. "Hey, that's my victim, give him back!" Moving to follow, she yelped as the freed Garurumon bounded off her back and over a nearby wall to follow his partner and the digimon.

Recovering from the ordeal, she glared up after the insect digimon as a seething hate formed in her stomach. "When I find out who you are, I'll rip your wings off and snap your antennas." Jumping into the air, she began to follow after the two digimons and humans.

Halsemon wasn't doing any greater then Garurumon against his opponent, the digimon Huoyugamon were simply to tough skinned to be hurt by any of his attacks, and his attacks were nothing short of nasty as could be seen as a sudden toss of snow froze the wall Halsemon had just flown part, the attack's near hit leaving a bit of the flying digimon's left side slightly frozen.

Spinning around in the air as a power built up in him, the armored flying digimon let lose with one of his more used attacks as he closed in on the digimon. "Tempest Wing!" The fierce tornado like wind hammering into the icy digimon head on, but only succeeding in pushing back a great deal.

Lifting up a hand in return, the blue colored Ogremon punched the air as white energy flashed around his fist. "Throwing Ice!" The white colored energy forming into a solid sphere of ice that hit Halsemon's metallic helmet with a loud clang that knocked him back a bit.

Struggling back against the pain, the armored digimon recovered and shot through the air even faster, powering up his most powerful attack that he had, red light shooting out of his eyes as he got within firing range. "Eagle Eye!"

Blocking the attack, the Huoyugamon roared in frustration, as his club was shattered into a shower of small ice crystals that quickly turned into digi dust. "Snow Barrier!" Sending out an attack as Halsemon tried to get in another hit, when the air was suddenly filled with a literal snowstorm blinding the large armored digimon.

Then the blue colored body of the enemy digimon filled his vision as the digimon shot through the snow storm, one hand pulled back as white colored energy cursed around it. "Damn." Then an intense cold feeling rushed through him, sending shocks through his body as it went numb. "Yolie!"

Darklizardmon hissed as several fireballs shot through the air, his eyes locked on the far to fast moving Raidramon as the nimbly moving digimon shot up close and head butted him again, the force of it crashing them both into a wall, with the dark fiery digimon taking the full impact on his back. "Dark Flare!"

Feeling the evil digimon attack from just above his head, Raidramon wasted no time in shooting off one of his own attack in retaliation. "Lightning Blast!" A bright shower of electricity shooting from his horn into the stomach of the evil digimon who screamed in pain as the attack connected.

Off to the side, Davis cheered on his digimon as both of them were knocked by the others attack, Raidramon armor blacken in places, and Darklizardmon sporting a smoke cloud drifting up from his stomach. "Give it up pal, we're too powerful for you."

Hissing and twisting his head to look at the human boy, Darklizardmon fired off another attack, feeling the need to removing the bragging annoyance from the battle before finishing off his opponent once and for all. "Snipe Fang!"

"Ups." Flinging his arm to protect himself as he noticed the attack, no matter how futile it might be, Davis cringed a she waited for the attack to hit him, blinking as all he felt was a burst of hot air. "Raidramon!" The yelling out of his digimon name coming as he saw his digimon smoking from his side were an attack had impacted him. "Raidramon, are you okay?"

Facing his partner, the armored digimon smiled a bit. "Been better, but it's worth it if you're okay Davis." Turning his head back around, the blue digimon growled as he moved forward again, a bit slower the before, but still a match for the other digimon. "Blue Thunder!"

Spreading out his arms as the electric wave of energy shot at him, Darklizardmon fire doff his own attack as well, dark fire shooting out from his chest and arms. "Dark Flare!" Another explosion ripping up the ground as the two powers went off right between the two digimons.

"He's too strong." Davis muttered out, as he simply couldn't believe it. There were only a few digimons he had ever met that were stronger then Raidramon, and this one seemed to fall into that category. Flamedramon wouldn't stand a chance since the other digimon was made of fire, plus he would never allow them to dedigivolve and then armor digivolve into Flamedramon.

It went against everything he believed in, but there was no doubt about it. He would need help in bringing down this digimon, and he needed it now. "Raidramon, we have to find the others!" Yelling out the command, he turned and headed in the direction that Yolei and Halsemon had gone in. "Hopefully they have already succeed in bringing down their opponent, or we're really in trouble."

Digmon moaned as his opponent slammed into him again, spark of electricity flying through him as his whole body was lit up by the small digimons attack. Finally feeling it fly off enough for him to drop to his knee, Digmon was left panting as he tried to work out where the small thing would come form next.

The battle had been completely one sides since it started, the small Thundermon outclassed him in speed so much he hadn't even had a chance to attack since the beginning of the battle. His armor was dented, scorched from electric attacks, and his armor power was all but gone as his vision swam a bit. The only good thing about it all was that the small digimon hadn't hurt Cody yet.

Holding up his drill like hands, Digimon bleached as his opponent shot right at him, with archs of electricity flying around him. "Cody, run. Get out of here!" Yelling out the command, he felt his world erupt into pain, agony flaring through every limb of his body as he was flung back through the air.

The large insect digimon stared at the battle scene as he took in the various places of combat. "They're in need of our help now." He commented as he prepared himself, placing Matt on the ground gently. "Are you ready?"

Nodding the boy closed his D-terminal as he finished the message and sent it. "I've contacted their friends by hacking into one of their D-terminal's for their addresses." Then he walked over to look down at the battle scene as well. "Let's go, we have to help Motomiya and his friends right now."

The digimon nodded and took a gentle hold of his partners arm and pulled him up into a better position to be held in as he flew off. "Let's go!" The words leaving the digimon as he and his partner faded away in the direction of the nearby battles rapidly.

Behind him, Matt dusted off his clothes and cast a curious looked after the one who had saved him. He hadn't really seen the boy whom the digimon belonged too, but he had heard his voice, and frankly, he wasn't as surprised as he should be about it, it didn't matter if he joined them or not, if they would welcome someone like Tai who had gone and hurt two humans as well as countless digimon, then the former digimon emperor would fit in nicely with the group as well.

"TK!" Screaming out the name, Matt took off looking for his little brother, if there were any problems with Ken, it would have to wait until a later time, right now, he had to find and help TK.

Landing on the remains of a nearby building, Arukenimon's eyes narrowed as she glared after the blond haired boy. The stupid insect that had dared to interfere was nowhere to be seen, but the blond haired boy was right there, and there was no way she would let him get away this time.

Ducking as Digmon flew over him, Cody stared in horror as a bright yellow light flowed over his partner digimon, the sign of a de-digivolution. "Armadillomon!" The digimon mumbling a bit as he rolled backwards before stopping in a dazed condition halfway to his partner human. "Are you okay?" Reached out a hand to him, as he got closer, Cody stopped as a blur shot down between them, tearing up the ground and hurtling him back through a small hailstorm of rock shards. "Ahhhhhh!"

Then the stabs if pain stopped as he was pulled back, and held softly by someone. "Stingmon, Take care of that fake digimon, will you?" Opening his eyes at the voice, Cody stared up in shock as he saw Ken just above him, the digimon emperor wearing a gray school uniform of all things. "Ken?"

And before them both, stood a huge green insect man like digimon, a glowing pink stinger shooting out form its right upper wrist. "Spiking Strike!" The attack jabbing right into a charging Thundermon who had a split second shocked look on his face, before he exploded into digi dust.

Pulling himself free of Ken's grip in sheer rage, Cody glared at the older boy and his digimon with a truly dark expression on his face. "You! How could you just do something like that? That was a digimon, a living thing!" Standing up as he spoke, the younger boy grabbed a bit of rubble and held it out like a sword before him. "Have you no shame, ruthlessly killing off an innocent digimon like that Digimon Emperor?"

Casting a hurt look down at the boy, Ken quickly looked up as a panting sound reached him, the source of turning out to be a heavily breathing Davis as both he and Raidramon came rushing around a shatter wall of a building. "Cody, we have to, Ken." Staring in disbelief at the boy, Davis quickly moved forward as a shot of fire tore through the air above the building. "Damn, he found us already."

"Guys." Yolie yelled out as she and Halsemon descended down from the air, several lumps of ice falling form the digimon as he nearly tumbled over and crashed. "You have to help us, Hyougamon's tearing us apart." Then her eyes landed on the boy standing before the two others. "Ken, what are you doing here?"

Still glaring darkly at the boy in question, Cody answered the question for both Davis and Yolie. "He's killing off innocent digimons." Clenching up a hand, his eyes flashed with raw anger as he stepped forward, snapping a finger out to point at Ken in accusation. "Why, why did Thundermon have to die huh, he was a innocent digimon, like all the ones you enslaved, you had no right to just kill him like that!!"

Stepping back as each word was spat at him, Ken eyes closed as several painful memories rushed through him, making him want to curl up and die on the spot as punishment for it. "I, I." Stammering a bit as he spoke, he looked up as he felt a hand on his shoulder, turning his head a bit to see who, even of he already knew, he smiled in thanks as he saw Stingmon looking down at him in a supportive way. "Yes."

Turning back to face to them, Ken looked at Davis as the leader of the second team of digi destined stepped forward with a weary expression. "Please, I didn't come here to fight." Seeing two skeptical and one hopeful expression aimed at him after those words, Ken shook his head and continued. "These digimon, Thundermon, Hyougamon and Darklizardmon, they're not real digimons, Arukenimon, the witch in the red dress you saw earlier, she made them out of control spires."

Getting a bit of confused look, he looked up at the sky shortly. "Although, one of them, Darklizardmon, I'm not really sure how he was made, that girl in the digimon empress outfit, caused something to merge, and then he was there."

"Jun." Davis muttered out as his fist clenched up at his side. "You're saying that they're not real digimons?" Seeing both Ken and Stingmon nod, Davis rubbed a hand over his chin. "It still doesn't solve how we can stop them, Raidramon's not a match for Darklicardmon, and fire against fire is out of the picture, so Flamedramon's a no go."

Stepping forward, Stingmon pointed down at Davis's D3. "You must digivolve the normal way." Seeing a quick look shared between Davis, Cody and Yolie. He turned to face the direction that Hyougamon was coming from as he broke through a wall, while Darklizardmon once again fired off a bit of fire as he jumped up over the ruined wall. "Hurry up, while I'll take care of the cold one."

True to his word, Stingmon rushed forward, tackling Hyougamon as he was getting ready to fire off another blast of cold energy, both of them flying out through the hole with a war cry as the insect digimon tackled the ogre like one.

Holding up his digivice, Davis looked down at Veemon after sharing a last look with Ken, the former enemy of his giving him a thump up before he rushed over to watch the battle between Stingmon and Hyougamon. "Ready buddy?"

The small blue dragon like digimon held up his hand as he grinned. "Do you have to ask Davis?"

Rushing forward as his target looked distracted, Darklizardmon opened his mouth to fire off a plume of fire, when a bright blue light filled the air where the two were standing.

Glowing brightly, Veemon spun around as pure power rushed through him, power he had gotten from his partner Davis in order to digivolve to his champion form. "Veemon Digivolves too..." Shooting up to several times his own height, his back grew a set of leather dragon like wings, as his mouth filled white sharp teeth and his small horn grew into a bigger version. On his chest, Two stripes formed an X shape mark divided near the middle to make the upper part of it form a V. "...EX-Veemon!"

Slowing down, Darklizardmon stared in surprise as the new digimon before him, unsure of how he could go about attacking him now that he was several times bigger then before.

Looking down, EX-Veemon smirked as he took advantage of his opponents distraction, kicking the digimon into the air with a dark grin on his face. "Now, let's see how long you last against me in this form."

Growling in reply as he landed on his hind legs, Darklizardmon glared back at EX-Veemon as his firey body increased its heat by several degrees, eyes glowing slightly more as well as he began to inch toward the huge blue white dragon like digimon again.

Behind them, Davis grinned as much as his digimon as he felt the power form EX-Veemon. "Alright, now go get him EX-Veemon, and show my sister how great we really are."

Moving forward at his partner's words, EX-Veemon powered up an attack and lashed out. "Vee Punch!" His fist smacking into the body of Darklizardmon and sending it flying further back, through a pile of rubble painfully as dust filled the air.

Pushing himself up, Darklizardmon roared hatefully as he charged right back at the huge blue dragon like digimon, a sphere of fire forming in his hands. "Dark flare!" A sphere that erupted into a pillar of raw powerful fire ripping towards the blue dragon like digimon.

Slamming his arms together in front of him, EX-Veemon grinned as the fire simply washed over them without doing too much damage to him. "Ha, time to finish it." Crossing his arms, he smirked as power flowed into his chest and built up. "Vee Laser!" Ripping out to hammer into Darklizardmon with an X shaped laser blast, the evil digimon was once again thrown backwards into more rubble.

This time it didn't stand back up again, instead a loud moan like sound ripped through the air. The fake digimon's head color fading away, revealing the imatamon's color below it, finally losing all of its color as it shattered into a cloud of data.

"All right!" Davis yelled out as he saw it, one hand rising up in victory. "You rock EX-Veemon!"

Turning back with a smug look, the huge blue dragon like digimon nodded as he held up his own arm in triumph. "You said it Davis, guess he wasn't a match for my champion power." Flexing his muscle as he said the last, EX-Veemon stopped as he noticed the other digimons and human children looking at him. "Um, you guys did great as well, really."

Shooting the same tired look over at Davis, Cody shook his head briefly. "Can we find Kari and TK now, we need them, Ken's back." His voice turning ice-cold at the last part he spoke out.

Slapping a hand into the other, Davis nodded as he looked around the place. "Oh yeah, Ken, I wonder where he went of too."

The sound of foots steps drawing their attention over to see the former digimon emperor emerge from a nearby ruin, Stingmon hovering in the air behind him. "I'm here." Facing EX-Veemon, he nodded slowly as he turned back to face Davis. "I take it you defeated Darklizardmon?"

Opening his mouth to reply, Davis blinked as he shoved out of the way by Yolie, her eyes locking onto Ken with a dark fire in them. "Okay Ken, spit it out, why did you help us defeat those digimon?" Her voice ice cold as she loomed over the younger boy.

Stumbling a bit, Davis looked back at tem as his smile faded away. "Back off Yolie, Ken helped us because he's a digi destined, see." The last word added as Davis pointed at the D3 in the purple haired boy's hand. "Isn't that right Ken?"

Not answering, Ken slowly turned to look into the distance, a think line for a mouth as he closed his eyes. "Your friends are in that direction, I called for help, but I don't know if they're here yet."

Looking up at that comment, Cody snapped his head around to look at the others. "We have to help them!" Nodding in response, Davis and Yolie took off running, their digimons behind them.

After a few steps, Davis stopped and looked back at Ken with a friendly expression on his face. "Come on Ken, you're one of us now." Holding out a hand, he smiled at the purple haired boy, a smile that faded a bit later as the other boy made no move to follow. "Ken?"

Shaking his briefly, the boy in question took a few hesitant steps forward, smiling weakly at Davis before the boy turned back around and headed off to help his friends.

"What's wrong?" Stingmon's voice broke through the air as the large insect digimon looked down at his partner, clearly able to see the tense state of Ken's body.

Closing his eyes, Ken stepped forward and slowly broke into a half run. "Nothing, nothings wrong." Staring ahead of him as he followed, he looked at Davis, a half puzzled expression marring his face. "How, how can he just forgive me like that? It makes no sense, I who have done so many evil things, I don't deserve to be forgiven."

Behind him, Stingmon kept a steady pace, ready to support his partner and friend if it came down to it, but in this case, he was completely powerless to help his partner, for only Ken could ever really forgive himself for what he had done.

--------------------

Stepping out of yet another shop, Tai and Mimi both wore a tired expression on their faces. They had been everywhere in the mall, and nothing had really interested them. Well, Mimi had been interested in a few things. But hadn't gone to any great lengths about it, remembering her promise to just look through the mall, and not shop till she or he dropped.

Next to her, Tai were still deep in thoughts, wondering why he was even there. It was great to be back with his family, but he still felt out of place. The real world was different from the digital world, and white this was his home, he hardly remembered anything about it, and his earlier outburst hadn't helped his mood much.

Mimi had calmed him down after a good twenty minutes, but she hadn't really understood it. Blackgatomon was gone, gone. And he couldn't get her back. The only thing he had left of her now was a bunch of memories, and nothing else.

"100 yen for your thoughts."

Looking up as Mimi's voice cut into his dark thoughts, Tai gave a halfhearted smile as he shook his head. "Nothing, it's nothing."

Closing her eyes, Mimi sighed as she grabbed his shoulder. "I know it's not just a nothing, losing someone as close to you as she was, will hurt." Turning him to face her, she smiled as sincerely as she could. "And talking with someone about it, will help you cope with the pain of loss."

Not answering her, Tai kept his eyes lowered as he sighed. "I know that, it, it's just." Clenching up his hands, Tai stared at her with a look of anger. "She told me that she wasn't my real partner, that I should find my real one, but, I don't think anyone can replace her."

"No has too." Mimi replied after a few seconds, one hand resting on his as she kept her eyes on the ground. "What is important, is that you keep her memory alive, but don't let it drag you down forever." Standing up slowly, she pulled him up with her. "I think she wanted you to keep on living no matter what happened, and right now, you're not doing very much of that are you?"

Moving back at bit as her words sank in; Tai felt his eyes narrow a bit, only to close completely. "It, it's hard, I don't want to let go. I want her back." Turning around, he looked into the distance. "I would do anything to have her back." Voice thick with sadness as he muttered out the last part.

Feeling her own heart slow down a bit in sadness, Mimi gave a weak smile at his back. "I didn't mean for you to completely give up on her, keep her memory with you, but don't give up on everything because of that." Turning him back around, she smiled a bit as she pulled him along after her. "Now come on, and I'll buy us both an ice-cream"

Looking up as a beeping sound reached them as they walked along, Tai and Mimi blinked before the pink haired girl pulled out her D-terminal, flicking it open, quickly reading the message on it. "Sora and the others are in danger." Looking over at Tai, she gave a nervous smile at him. "Look, I have to go, they need my help, think you can find your way back on your own."

Shaking his head, Tai slowly pulled out his digivice, smiling at her, he pressed a button on it. "If Kari's in trouble, I'm going, I don't care if I can't fight without a digimon. I need to be there for her, to protect her like I should have for the last four years."

Smiling back at him, Mimi quickly closed the D-terminal after sending a reply to the one who had sent it. "You know, the more time I spend with you like this, the more I think I like this version of you." Grabbing her own digivice, she quickly looked over at a nearby computer shop. "Sora told me we can access the digital world from any computer we want too, and with your D3 it shouldn't be any problem to unlock the gate."

Nodding as they rushed through the shops doors, Tai and Mimi quickly moved to a more quiet part of the store, the messy haired boy's digivice glowing as he trusted it at the nearest computer screen. "Digiport Open!" Mimi holding out her own digivice as a bright light filled the store, causing several people to turn and stare at the scene, only to blink their eyes confused as all they saw was an empty part of the store, with no sign of the light or whoever it was that had yelled out.

--------------------

"Star Shower!"

"Black Saber!"

The sky above the ruined city lit up as another explosion sounded out. A slight shockwave traveled though the air to reach the two kids and one digimon sitting on a slightly overturned house.

Whimpering lightly as she felt a the bruises and skid marks on her arms and legs hurt with every move she made, Kari turned her head to watch as Pegasusmon battled it out with Saberdramon in the air. While they seemed evenly matched in attack power, it was rather clear that the bird like digimon had the better ability to move in the air as well as a light speed advantage over the horse like digimon.

Feeling another jab of pain, she looked down to see the damage her sudden fall had done. Several bloody markings where her skin had been scraped or torn open. "TK, do you think, he can win?" The question aimed at the boy holding her slightly up as he gazed into the sky with a mad expression.

Next to her, Gatomon were shimmering with anger at her the way her partner had been treated, just tossed to the ground by Saberdramon when they reached the place they had chosen as a battleground. "Kari, armor digivolve me, and I'll turn them both into a scratching post for hurting you."

Watching her partner, Kari reached down to grab her digivice, agreeing with the fact that it looked like Pegasusmon would be needing help, only to whimper as more pain shot through the elbow part. "I can't, it hurts even to try and reach it."

Looking from her partner to the digivice lying on the ground, Gatomon reached out and grabbed it, pushing it into Kari's hand. "Here, now let's get them." On the other side, Kari managed to open her D-terminal slightly. "Okay, Digi Armor AHHH!"

TK pulled her down as she screamed, covering her body as a stray blast of power came far to close to them for his liking, small rocks bits raining down at them. "Pegasusmon, keep him away from Kari." Looking down at the girl, he stared slightly transfixed as she once again tried to lift up her digivice and D-terminal. "Don't, I'm getting you out here."

Lifting her up, he stared back at the fight and slowly began to move towards the edge of the ruin, one foot in front of the other as the building felt a bit fragile. "As soon as I've gotten you to a safe place, I'll find the others."

The next step, stopped halfway through the movement as a shadow fell over him, a dark and massive presence clearly felt as a slight chuckle could be heard. "You."

Nodding sarcastically, Jun lifted up her whip and looked at each of them with a amused glint in her eyes. "Leaving so soon, I thought you wanted to beat me." Looking up at the two fighting digimons, she shook her head sadly and looked back down at the two humans and lone digimon before her. "Then again, I can understand it, I wouldn't want to see my partner get killed if I were you."

Teeth gnashing together at those words, TK glared up at her with pure anger in his eyes. "You, you're worse then Ken was, at least he hurt digimons because he had a reason, as sick and demented it might have been." Each word spat out with pure loathing behind them.

Eyes flashing with raw fury, Jun pulled her hand back, whip glinting as it uncoiled in it full length, ready to lash out at the blond haired boy for his insolent tone of voice. Then her eyes darken as she looked up at his digimon partner. "No, I won't hurt you, I'll hurt him first, then I'll finished that snot nosed girl and her kitty cat off, and finally force you to see as your other friends are destroyed."

Eyes gleaming with insane cruelty, Jun urged her Megadramon to move forward, into an attack position. "And then I'll hurt you, and make it last as long as I can." Snapping a finger as she stopped talking, TK, Kari and Gatomon could only stare as the Megadramon arms snapped open, ready to fire at Pegasusmon at any minute.

"Flower Cannon!" And then the whole thing changed as a small, fairy like digimon shot up over the hill of rubble with a look or determination. The bullet of green energy fired from the flower shaped cannon hitting the Megadramon right in the side of its metal covered head with a clanging sound.

Looking up at the rubble, Kari smiled as she spotted two other figures coming to help them. A mop of messy brown hair she had missed for so long clearly seen even with the distance between them. "Tai!"

Turning her head at the yell from the girl, Jun eyes narrowed to slits as she spotted the messy haired boy running towards the two kids she had trapped on the roof, Anger and resentment running through her as she turned around to deal with her unfinished business. "Yagami."

Then her eyes moved from the traitor to the digimon who had attacked her Megadramon, eyes narrowing a bit in mock surprise and amusement at the sight of it. "Isn't she a bit to girly a digimon for you to hang out with Yagami?"

The comment causing both Lillymon and Mimi to get look rather ticked off at the comment. "Lillymon's my digimon, and I think she's great looking." The Pink haired girl yelled out as she stepped closer to the battle zone. "Unlike yours, who is nothing more then a cheap Birddramon rip-off."

Eyes narrowed in anger, Jun turned completely to face Mimi, hand tightening around her whip. "Rip-off, Saberdramon's better then all of your digimons put together!" Snapping a finger, she pointed at the battle ahead of them. "He can take out your little pixy doll with no problem."

Clenching up her own hand, Mimi growled right back at Jun as she took another step forward. "Oh yeah, Lillymon will beat him back to the In-train level."

Nearly shaking with fury at the pink haired girl's insult to her digimon partner's strength. Jun snapped her head back to stare up at Saberdramon flying in for another attack on Pegasusmon. "SaberDramon, turn the little pixy doll into digi dust!"

Turning to face her own digimon, Mimi's eyes were narrowed about as much as Jun at the pixy doll insult her digimon had to suffer from. "Lillymon, take out that trashy Birddramon rip-off!"

Behind her, Tai shook his head as he watched the two digimons fly off to battle each other, their human partners continuing to thrown insults at one another as soon as they began to fight. What was it with that girl, she was all nice and sweet one minute, and now, she was like a monster. At least it gave him a chance to slip off and reach his little sister.

Landing as soon as he was free, Pegasusmon gave a tired gasp and sank down next to his partner, glowing brightly as he de digivolved back into Patamon, the smaller digimon looking up at the one who had arrived to help them. "Hey, how come Lillymon can be here, shouldn't the control towers have prevented any normal digivolving?"

Shooting a quick glance at his partner, TK's face frowned a bit as he thought about it. "You're right, and Garurumon, he didn't de digivolve when we entered this area." Grabbing his digivice from his belt, he smiled down at Patamon. "Ready for some old fashion digivolving buddy"

With a gleam in his eyes, the small digimons stood up and smiled back at his partner. "You got it?" grinning as he flew up into the air, Patamon nodded and began to fly off towards the battle between Saberdramon and Lillymon. "Here I go!"

At his last words, a bright column of light shot out of the sky and hit him, the small pig like body glowing as a TK's digivice gave off a loud whine. "Patamon Digivolves too... Angemon!" The large angel type digimon hovering in the air confidently as he took in the sight of the battle before him, hand rising up as one of his attacks powered up. "Hand of Fate!"

The beam of light shooting through the air and hitting Megadramon instead of Saberdramon, The impact of the beam sending Jun out of balance and down onto her back. "Have you had enough, or do you want some more?" He spat out as she pushed herself up again.

Smirking back down at the angel digimon, Jun grinned a bit as she grabbed a hold of her digimon. "Actually, I was going to ask you the same." Turning her head to the side rapidly, she glared at Saberdramon chasing after Lillymon. "Get her you fool! And you." The words spat out as she turned back to Angemon. "Will be nothing more then a light snack for Megadramon here."

Watching a bit unnerved as the huge dragon type digimon turned to face him head on, Angemon moved back a bit. "Ah, yes, we'll see about that." He mumbled out as he powered up his attacks.

Smiling arrogantly, Jun nodded as she gave the sign to attack. "Oh we will." The words coming as a challenge from her as Megadramon soared forward to attack.

--------------------

Looking around the area, Sora's eyes flashed as her fists clenched up. The battle with the Vilemon's had been a hard one at first, but once they had figured out they were those so called Imatamon's, those fake digimons that Taichi had told them off. It had been no problem to destroy them, but still unnerving as they screamed like a real digimon would when they were deleted.

But it still left the issue of what had been stolen from the underground ruins, clearly that digimon had gotten away with it, and it was rather important to him. But that was just about all they knew, they hadn't gotten much out of Taichi yet to fully understand this Master he had worked for, or what had motivated him other then a desire to return to the digital world.

And that information would have to wait until they made it back to the real world. For now, they would have to help these digimons recover from the damage they and their village had suffered.

But it didn't mean she had giving up on trying to find out just what was going on, and how to stop it. "Joe, Izzy, how long will it take to fix this place?" Her voice free of any emotion as she faced the horizon, a small reminder of the few times she had been forced to act as leader in the past weather she wanted too or not. "We still have to see if Matt and the other could need our help."

Looking up from his lab top, the red haired boy hummed a bit as he cast a look around the place. "Could take a while, there been a lot of damage to the whole area." Pressing a few keys on the lab top he sighed and closed it. "But it nothing that we can't handle on our own, and if Matt and the others are facing an Ultimate level digimon, they will be needing help."

"Ultimate?" Sora mumbled out as she gave her full attention to Izzy, a trouble expression on her face. She could clearly remember the digimon boosting that they wouldn't stand a chance against him, if they couldn't digivolve to a higher level then champion. "Great, I'm starting to regret giving up my crest powers more then ever."

Nodding in agreement, Izzy turned to face her with a serious expression. "We may be able to regain them, like Mimi has, but I wouldn't suggest it. Our crests formed a shield to boost the digital worlds ability to hold any outside darkness from entering into it."

Sighing in defeat at the reply from the young computer genius, Sora stood up in her full height. "You're right, but it would still be a big help." Turning to see how Birddramon were doing with the removal of rubble, she nodded to herself. "Look, you and Joe can help them clean up this mess right?"

Nodding in repose, Izzy smiled as he watched Kabuterimon simply lift up a part of a crumble buildings front, a few rookie digimons moving out from the inside of the rubble. "Sure, but be careful Sora, we don't know their full power, so stay alert if you have to battle them."

Running over to Birddramon, Sora smiled as her partner moved down enough for her to get up on her back. "You be careful too Izzy, just because that digimon ran away, doesn't mean that there's no danger around."

Giving her a thump up in reply, Izzy turned back to oversee the clean up, Birddramon flying rapidly into the digital sky. Opening his lab top, Izzy stared down at the information the digimon analyzer had come up about their new opponent. "I hope we can find a way to get our digimons to the ultimate level, we're really going to need it."

--------------------

"Kari, we have to help them." Gatomon mumbled out as she stood protectively in front of her human partner, eyes constantly moving to see how Angemon and Lillymon were doing against their opponents.

Nodding, Kari lifted her head up to face the battle above her. "You're right." Grabbing her D-terminal and D3, she smiled a bit at her partner. "Just promise me that you will be careful out there."

Nodding in agreement, Gatomon turned back around as she heard Kari open her D-terminal. "Hold on Angemon, I'll help you fight that monster."

Lifting her D3 up into the air, Kari eyes flashed with determination as the digiegg of light popped up on the D-terminal's screen. "Digi Armor energize!"

Power rushed through the air and into Gatomon as her body merged with the digiegg of light. "Gatomon, Armor digivolve too..." The power itself making her grow in size several times, while a heavy gold sphinx like mask formed over her head, with ornament armor forming around her front legs as well. "Nefertimon, the angel of light!"

Not wasting a single second after her digivolution, Nefertimon shot off into the sky, aiming her attack at the black, Birddramon like digimon chasing after Lillymon. "Cat's Eye Beam!"

Screeching in pain as the attack hit him in the back, Saberdramon cast a death glare down at his new opponent, moving around to attack her, when a flash of pink made him freeze.

Moving in fast, Lillymon giggled as she passed by Saberdramon's head, her body suddenly going into super speed as she spun around his body near it's middle. "Flowery" Lillymon's flower wraith tightening in around him as it finished forming, pining his wings to the sides.

Taking advantage off the opening Lillymon had given her, Nefertimon powered up another attack as she closed in. "Rosetta stone!" This one hitting the bird digimon right in the face harshly as it faced her again.

Looking up in anger, Jun's face twisted into a look of shock as her partner fell down from the sky, his body glowing brightly before it de-digivolved back into Penmon. "No!" Kicking her Megadramon as she saw it, Jun cursed as the huge digimon slowly turned to intercept his fall.

Hissing as she nearly fell of Megadramon's back from another hit, Jun turned her attention back over her shoulder to see Arukenimon glaring at the blond haired boy with the Garurumon as she followed after them. "Arukenimon, We must retreat, there's too many of them!" She didn't hope she could pick up the slight amount of fear in her voice, cause truth be told, she was more worried about one of the attacks hitting her then causing damage to her Megadramon, plus Penmon needed help to recover, and fast.

A sudden sneering sound from behind had her glance up to see Arukenimon glaring as she glanced down at the three digimons heading up to attack. "Why should we run away, I'm stronger then them all combined?" Her words aimed at Jun as Megadramon started to fly away.

Just settling for snorting in response, Jun continued to cradle her digimon in her arms. "You'll be okay Penmon, just wait and see." Eyes narrowing with anger, she looked back at the battleground and the three digimons hovering in the air. "And those fools will pay for doing this to you, that I swear."

Ignoring the rambling girl, Arukenimon refocused her attention back to the battleground as it faded away. "Next time I meet you insect, I'll rip your wings off, one by one." Staring silently into the horizon after that, Arukenimon turned back into her human body, running a hand through her hair as she turned around to face Jun's direction.

--------------------

Standing around in the ruins, Tai cast a quick look over at Ken standing with Wormmon near the edge of the village, a slightly unsure look in his eyes as he looked down at his partner. "I'm sorry for all that I have done to you and your digimons." Turning to face Sora, he bowed even deeper. "I am very sorry for what I did to you and your partner, enslaving her and forcing her to digivolve and fight against all of you."

Standing up of his bow, he picked up Wormmon and turned around to leave the area, taking a few steps before Davis moved out of the group. "Wait Ken, join us, we could use your help?" Not getting an answer, he moved even further towards the boy with a slightly confused expression. "Come on Ken, don't walk away, you're a digi destined like us, you belong in our group."

Feeling someone grab his shoulder, Davis looked back at TK who stared after Ken as well. "He needs time Davis, we can't expect him to just pretend nothing has happened." Looking back at the rest of the group, the blond haired boy sighed a bit at the mixed expression he saw there. "Besides, I don't think the whole group is willing to forgive him for what he has done yet."

"They aren't?" Davis started, before nodding slightly as he understood what TK was saying. "But I'm not giving up, got it, I believe that Ken can and will become one of our group." Turning to face the direction Ken had left in, he smiled with a determined look in his eyes. "I won't give up on you Ken, Someday you will join us."

--------------------

"You failed us."

Reclining in a chair each, Oikawa and the Master stared harshly at the three in front of them. Arukenimon and Jun looking the most defeated as they hadn't even gotten away with a small victory or anything to prove they had succeed just a little bit.

Turning to face Mummymon, the Master frown eased a bit as he motioned for the bandage wearing digimon to hand over the core in his possession. "At least one of has something to show after all." Looking up at the digimon as he took the core, he snarled a bit. "But it still doesn't excuse the fact that I lost several of my Imatamon's because you ran away."

Looking a bit angry at the comment, Mummymon looked over at Oikawa for some help in telling this human to back off, when he saw and even darker look on that man's face. "Ah, I'm sorry, I thought that they could take on the Digi Destined."

Standing up, Oikawa walked through the room and gazed out the window with a furious sneer. "Those brats are becoming to much of a problem." His voice ice cold as he looked at Arukenimon and Jun. "The next time you set up a trap, make sure no one can show up to help them, you got it?"

Finishing his rant, he stopped as bright green light filled the room, the master's small laugh making him stare as the homemade digivice that he had made outright ripped the digi core to piece and absorbed it. "I trust that you can locate the next temple on your own again Mummymon?"

Getting a rather shocked expression on his face at the question, the bandaged digimon turned to face his leader as he scratched his head. "But, I thought you wanted me to find the Destiny stones?"

Settling for giving his digimon the look rather then yell out in anger, Oikawa walked back to his chair, planting a hand on the top of it. "Yes, but those digi cores offer a more faster and easier way to the digital world." Smirking a bit at the thought of finally entering into the digital world, he looked away from the others and towards a small picture in a frame on a bookcase. "To finally go there, it's the one thing I live."

Silence filled the room as Oikawa gazed at the picture, then the master chuckled as the device signaled a successful absorbing of the digi core, a clear green color added to the surface of it. "Only two more to go, and both the digital world and vengeance will be mine." Laughing outright after that, the human man stood up and brushed hand across his chin in an excited way. "I will return to reclaim my place in the digital world Gennai, you can't stop me."

Laughing insanely, he watched the screen as Oikawa stepped back a bit from him, briefly wondering if the alliance was a good thing or not. Would it be wise for him to leave someone with the power he claimed those small orbs carried. Then again, he could wait until all four had been secured, and then take it from him, with Arukenimon and Mummymon on his side, it wouldn't even be a battle, more like a ruthless theft.

Smirking as a chuckle left him, Oikawa turned to regard his own plans for the future. Everything was almost in place. The loss of Ken as the Digimon Emperor didn't matter anymore. If it came down to it, he could make a new one, all he need was to copy the dark spore form the young super genius and he could have as many of them as he needed, and the dark power they would generate once they bloomed would easily power a gate if need be.

TBC: Dark Alliance: Part 3.

AN: Another chapter out, and an action filled one to boot, at least I hoped it seemed that way to you folks as well. Things are picking up once again, as the DD's rush to stop Jun and the others from robbing the last two temples. And Tai finally meets his real digimon partner.


	13. Part XIII

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Summery: AU, very AU and dark, with mentioning of torture, violence and blood drinking.

Taichi's been disowned by the master and barely escaped both his execution and the destruction of his castle as Jun and the Digimon Emperor battled for supremacy of that area. In the battle, the Emperor revealed his new great weapon, Kimeramon. And in the real world, Oikawa Ukyou approached the master with an offer of alliance or destruction.

Special note: 'Thoughts'

-

Spawn of the vampire  
Part XII  
Dark Alliance: Part 3  
- 

Smoke poured up from the ruined temple as the three digi destined stared in hopelessness at the shattered place. Around them, the signs of a short and brutal battle were clearly seen.

Walking closer to it, Davis sighed a bit as he saw the remains of a nearby hut crushed. "Well, they've been by here recently." He announced as he turned back to face them. "And they trashed the whole place just to get inside of it."

Nodding, Cody turned to face the other member of their small group. "I don't think we will learn anything more by staying here, don't you agree Yolie."

The purple haired girl blinked her eyes a bit and then quickly nodded. "Yes, yes." Picking up her d-terminal, she coughed a she flipped it open. "I'll E-mail Izzy and tell him we were to late, and there's no trace of them or their plans." Punching in the message as she spoke, she cast a quick look up into the sky, doubt flashing across her face for a moment.

"Well." Davis started as he turned back to them. "We'll get them next time Cody, all we have to do is to stay ready to head out and fight." Rubbing his head as he walked past them, he stopped and looked back at the two behidn him. "So, who's next in looking for Jun and her allies?"

Closing her D-terminal, Yolie coughed a bit. "I think its TK, Kari and Matt." Her eyes moving a bit to to the side on order to stare at a nearby building that had been ruined. "Thankfully there wasn't much of a village around this temple, but I still feel sorry for the digimons that died here."

Clenching his hand at the words from the older girl, Cody eyes flashed with anger as he thought about the destruction as well. "We will stop her, and those two digimon as well."

Giving a confirming nod at each other, the three kids turned and began to walk off. Heading towards the only TV in the area, and the way back to the real world.

Over looking this scene, a lone figure narrowed her eyes as she turned around and walked away. A slight limbering in her walk as she stopped to look an older woman in a red dress towering up over her. "I should have destroyed them, they were right there for the taking."

Chuckling lightly, the woman smirked as her body twisted into a spider like monster. "We have our orders, and the trap is nearly ready, all we need is to be patient, they will trapped in our web eventually." Looking down at the glowing orb in her hands, she smirked lightly. "Besides, we got our prize without any kind of trouble this time."

Still looking a bit angry, Jun suddenly smirked slightly as she rubbed her hands together. "You think they will object if I try to take the nerd and short stuff out?" Her hand resting on her whip lightly as her eyes darken with evil. "They wouldn't be a problem for me you know."

Smirking slightly, she watched two dark figures standing a bit off. "With these two digimons, they won't even have a chance to fight back." Eyes glinting with pure dark amusement, Jun slapped her whip against the palm of her hand. "Victory will be mine."

"Later." Arukenimon barked out as she turned to leave, "We will need to be completely sure of victory this time."

Shooting her partner a dark look, Jun sighed and followed after her, barely even brothering to noticed the jeep Mummymon had somehow gotten a hold of recently. "I don't like all this planning, I say we just take them all by surprise, hammer them with all we have."

Mummymon chuckled a bit at her complaint. "We all do, but we have our orders." Licking his lips a bit, he stepped on the speeder and grinned as he began to drive off. "Lighten up, only one temple left, then our work will be done, Oikawa gets to the digital world, and your master gets his revenge."

Chuckling as well, Arukenimon ran her fingers through her hair absently. "And we get to destroy the digi destined once and for all." Her voice nearly dripping with anticipation of destroying the brats who were removing her beloved control towers, she would make sure they all suffered for their crimes against her.

Almost chuckling as well, Jun settled for watching the desert around her, letting her thoughts drift back to the moment when she had agreed to join the Master in taking over this world, the creatures who lived in it, and for the power she had gotten out of it.

It hadn't been such a hard decision to make, spend her life as a normal kid, grow up, marry, give birth to a kid or two and then live her life as a house wife, or go out and get a job to help support the house. It had been what her future had been holding for her when she had just been Jun Motomiya.

A kid from an average family living an average life, and looking forward to an average future, who could blame her for taking the offer for power, a chance to prove that she wasn't just an average person. That she had what it took to be part of those in control.

A chance she wouldn't get just by being an average person, despite all the change her country had gone through, it was still a very traditional society, and as such, she was expected to live up to her family reputation and remain on the same social level as them.

And the thought of doing that sicken her, she wanted to live out her dreams, to prove that she was so much more then people thought of her. And the Master had given her that chance, all she had to do in return was follow him and she would be one of those at the top, she would be one who gave orders instead of receiving them.

Giggling slightly at the thought, she sat up straight in the jeep. A pity her brother had been there to see her agree to the Master's terms. Must have been hard on the kid to see his sister just throw away her own family and friendships for something as grand as power.

He would never understand it, no one would. Only one person had been given the same gift as her, and he had thrown it away like a fool, and for what, an average girl and an average life.

"He's such an idiot." Noting that Arukenimon and Mummymon turned to stare at her, she gave her best dark scrawl, followed by a smirk as she noticed a few rookie level digimons up ahead, clearly a few who had decided to cross the desert for some reason.

Too bad for them that they had to meet her on their little trip. "Pull over Mummymon, I could use a little snack." Voice ice cold, Jun held up her whip in front of her as she flashed her fangs at the last word.

At the sight of them, both Mummymon and Arukenimon shivered for some reason, the memory of the last time they had watched her eat dinner had been enough to make them lose their appetite.

Still she was their alley, and therefore they had to at least do a few things that she wanted. Hitting the brakes as they passed the rookie digimons, Mummymon turned his head away from them along with Arukenimon, the quick action sparing them from the sight of it, but still not saving them from the screams erupting as Jun attacked them with her whip.

-

Slowly rubbing a hand over his still sleep crusted eyes, Tai cast a small look around the room. brain still trying to figure out where he was, when memory finally kicked in and reminded him that he was lying on the top bunk in the bedroom he shared with his sister.

Stumbling out of the bed and landing lightly on his feet, he yawned loudly while picking up the shirt and pants he had dropped on the floor after undressing the other day.

From the looks of it, his sister had already left the apartment for school since her bag was gone, and along with it her books and homework.

Finishing with his shirt, Tai grinned a bit as he marched over to the bedroom door, pulling it open as he suppressed another yawn, stepping out into the living room.

The only signs of life in the apartment coming from his mother as she was busy working on something in the kitchen, her back to him as he moved closer to the kitchen area of the apartment.

Sitting down at the table place near the center of the room, Tai cast a curious look at his mother as she turned around to face him, both of his parents were still a bit unsure of what had happened recently, but they looked a bit better about it then they had had yesterday. Well, at least his mother did.

Running a hand through his hair, Tai gave a small smile as he felt his mother walked closer to the table. "Hey mom, what are you going to be doing today?" His voice curious sounding while he tapped a finger on the table while waiting for an answer from her.

Sitting down with a cup of coffee in her hands, the elder woman smiled at him in return. "Not much yet, but I will meet with your father." Putting down the cup, her whole mood grew dead serious. "Tai, I need to know this, do you have any understanding of what your return means?"

Looking a bit unsure himself at that sentence, Tai lowered his head a bit. "I'm, not sure I'm following you mom." Voice faint at the end, he had a pretty good idea what they were talking about.

Standing up as she sighed, Tai mother faced the window and walked over to it. "You've been gone for years Taichi, both me and dad were broken when you died in that monster attack." Voice cracking a bit, she looked over her shoulder. "But we slowly learned to move on, never forgetting you."

Planting both hands on the kitchen counter, she closed her eyes as a feeling of sadness washed through her. "What I am saying Taichi, we are not up to handling something like this right now, we had a funeral for you, your dead to most of the world, but your also sitting at the table like nothing has happen to you."

Taking a deep breath, Tai looked up at his mother as he folded both hands in front of him. "I know, everything has changed since I last saw it, I feel strange when I walk around out there, like I don't belong." Pushing himself out of his chair, he grinned a bit. "But I can adapt, learn to feel like I'm home again."

"It is not just that." His mother voice cut through his head as she turned to face him, dead serious expression as her hands clenched up at her sides. "The government thinks your dead, the world thinks your dead, and even your aunt thinks so." Voice nearly cracking, she leaned back on the counter. "I don't know how I can convince them all that your not dead after all, not to mention how will you deal with the system, you hadn't graduated from elementary school yet when you were thought to be dead, and now you're old enough to be in high school."

Biting his lib in frustration, Tai looked away from her, hearing the same doubtful thoughts go through his head. How would he go about that? He hadn't cared about school in the last four years, only about securing the digital world and preparing it for his master's return.

Finally giving a short breath as he looked up, Tai shook his head. "I don't know how to do it mom, but I have to." Walking over to hug her, he watched as she froze for a second. "I just hope you and dad will support me through it all."

No answer came as he could barely feel the hug get returned from his mother, the fact nearly making him pull away and run out of the apartment. He should have known this would happen, they had moved on after his death, they hadn't expected him to ever return, no one had.

And that thought was enough to make him shiver, for how could he go about living in a world that had merely moved on after his death four years ago? Did it have any room in it for him at all?

Moving into the room he had started to share with his sister again, Tai closed the door and slid down to sit on the floor. He missed his sister, his missed Mimi, but most of all, he missed the one he could have always counted on to be there, his digimon partner. "Where are you Blackgatomon?"

Silence filled the room for several minutes after that question, a silence that lasted far to long for his liking. Feeling a bit more restless then ever, Tai stood up and cast a look around the room, it had mostly stuff belonging to his sister in it now, the only real trace of him left being the few pictures and a poster no one had removed yet.

Tracing a finger over the desk, Tai automatically drew his eyes towards the nearby computer, it was just standing there, waiting for him to turn it on and enter the digital world.

Hand slowly moving over to grasp his black and orange digivice, Tai dimly noticed his tongue moving across his lip, hitting his fangs in the process. While he no longer had a desire for blood anymore, he still had the fangs that his agreement with the master had gifted him with.

A reminder of his crimes, besides the dreams and memories of every digimon he had tormented, killed or drained until it died from his hunger. And the biggest reminder of all was his digivice, the one he had been given by the master when he had entered into his service.

Had it always looked this way, he could remember it as a small white square, not the sleek powerful looking D3 as Kari had called hers. Most likely it had been a result of his connection with darkness twisting it, but he still wondered how the master had gotten a hold of it, or how he had even managed to know it belonged to him.

Or this crest that Kari had said belonged to him, the small thing looking so fragile as he held it in his hand, eyes tracing the mark on its pink surface. "Courage." He had held it like this before, long ago, before he had even figure out what use it had, or how to activate it.

And if his remembered it correctly, there had been others as well, several of them, ten crests in total. They had been told by Gennai to hide them, to make sure no one would find them until their owners came to use them.

Snow flakes hit him roughly in the face as the wind picked up, next to him, he could feel another person fighting to get through the snow storm as well. "We have to get out of here, there's too many of them to fight." The words came from him as he turned to see several towering shapes moving towards them. "We can't let him get a hold of the crests, he will twist their powers to serve him."

Shaking his head at the memory, Tai placed the crest back onto the desk, only holding onto his digivice. "What was that?" Clenching it harder, Tai looked up at the computer with a new level of determination. "Whatever it was, it clear that only one person's got any answers to my questions, and I want them."

Pressing the turn on button for the computer, he silently watched it booted up, barely letting it finish before he held out his digivice to the screen. "Digi Port open!"

-

Her room looked the same as the last time she had been here, but more then ever it felt liek a prison to her, the walls and doorway reminding her that she were still under tight supervision of her parents and grounded to boot.

Outside the doorway, she could hear her parents talking, almost arguing about her. And her absence lately, the fact that she hadn't bartered to come home as soon as she could, but rather had showed up a bit later then they had told her too.

They couldn't understand it, her life was important, but so was her duty as a digi destined. She had to protect the worlds even if it meant it interfering with her life, or making her parents worried. She couldn't just turn her back on it, she tried that years ago and danger still found her.

She had been shown that unless she fought for freedom and peace with her friends, others would suffer and die because of her refusal.

Looking over at her desk, her eyes closed as she found it as empty as she had expected it to be, since her computer had been removed after her return, and locked in with her father's in his home office.

But she had to be there to help them, give her support when it was needed. Plus someone had to look after Tai, the others couldn't see the pain and doubt in his eyes, only she could do that. He needed her help and support; he needed someone to be there when he needed it.

Pushing herself off her bed, she picked up her digivice. The small machine inactive since there wasn't anything for it to do at the moment. She shuddered to think of what her parents would say if she just up and left again. Would they be angry with her, mad at her refusal to remain their little girl, their princess?

Standing up, her hand reached in under her bed and pulled out a small bag. The thing stuffed with just the most need of things at the moment to her. She would go back and visit him, visit Taichi. He needed her help, just as she needed to see him again, to be there and feel his softer side, the one he had only shown when he had talked with her, both here in the real world, and back in the digital world.

But getting to a computer and seeing if a digital gate was open would be harder. She had to cross through the hallway and past her parents to do so. And she shuddered to think of what they would do if they thought she was trying to sneak out again.

Slowly and silently opening her door, she noted her mother and father still glaring at each other in the kitchen, both of them having a look of pain and deep anger in their eyes. A sight that had her bite her lip in the knowledge that she had caused this, no matter how little she had done in getting them to argue, it was still partly her fault.

Moving across the hallway, she entered into her father's home office and spotted the computer, thankful for the fact that it was still on and running. Now all she had to do was get the digital gate program running, and hope that the gate was open for her this time.

If not, she would just have to come up with an excuse to leave the apartment, cause there was no way now that she would stay behind and hear them when they started to argue, or be present when they simply went into a deep silence to avoid getting the other upset again.

Holding up her digivice, she held her breath as the digi gate popped up, signaling that it was currently locked, a sight that had her close her eyes in defeat, until a loud beeping signaled it switching over to open, followed by a shower of bright light as her digivice kicked in and opened the doorway to the digital world in response.

The sudden terrified yell from her parents barely reaching as she was pulled in, only a brief glance of her mother and father's shocked expression as they watched her leave again was all she saw.

-

The light formed in the digital world as Taichi stepped out through a digital gate, a barren wasteland meeting him as his eyes opened up. He hadn't expected to end up here when he had travel through the gate, but now that he was here, he had no other option but to look around.

See if anyone had heard of a way to bring back non-digimons who were still made up of digital data.

Taking a step forward, he froze as another bright light formed behind him. A yelp telling him someone else had stepped into the digital world. Turning around to see who it was, he stopped as a familiar pink haired girl looked at him.

"Tai? Mimi? What are you doing here?" Their questions coming at the same time, one hand pointing at each other in unison as they spoke out loud.

Shaking his head, Tai looked around the area as he tried to fight down the thoughts of him alone with Mimi in an unknown area. "I'm... I just needed to get away." Voice faltering s bit as he spoke, Tai turned to face something else but her question expression. "My mom, she, she told me something I just can't deal with right now, and this was the only place I thought I could get away from it all in."

Shouldering the bag she had brought with her, Mimi nodded a bit as she stepped forward as well. "Same here, except I needed to see you." Looking away as well, her eyes focused on the tall sand stone rocks towering up in the distance. "My parents, they're fighting a lot now, I just couldn't handle it anymore, it's like all they ever do lately is argue over whose to blame for me being a digi destined."

Getting a slightly confused expression, Tai scratched his head as he looked at her. "So, why are you here?" His voice showing just how much he was puzzled. "If they're fighting over your choice to be a digi destined, shouldn't you be there to voice your side of the story?"

Smile completely fading away at his words; Mimi snorted a bit as she moved to walk past him. "I said, they don't want me to be a digi destined, so no matter what I say, they won't listen to me." Her tone of voice turning more and more annoyed as she spoke. "So don't tell me to go back home again, I just want to get away form it all, even if it is for just a little while."

Looking a bit hesitant, Tai finally sighed as he followed after her. "I won't." Then he looked at the area around them with a grimace. "But if I wanted to get away, I wouldn't have chosen to come here."

Giving him a sarcastic glance, Mimi pressed both of her hands onto her hips. "What do you mean you wouldn't chose to come here? You're already here." Waving her hand through the air, she snorted a bit. "Bet it was you who caused the gate at my home to bring me here."

"No it wasn't, it was me." The voice cutting through the air with a thick silence after it, prompting both Tai and Mimi to turn around and see who it was that had spoken to them.

Sitting calmly on a small outcropping of a rock, a human like digimon dressed in a heavy dark red robe grinned at them as she waved a hand. "Hiya all, my names Witchmon, and if your wondering about it, it was on my master order that I brought you here so I can kill you Yagami, actually he wants me to kill you both." Smiling darkly as she spoke, she floated up into the air, a small black cat jumping onto her shoulder as a broom formed in her right hand. "And I will do anything that my Master asks me to do."

Flinging out her left arm, a glowing blue sphere of light quickly formed in it. "Baruruuna Gale!" The sphere exploding into a tornado like funnel of blue energy that went ripping across the ground towards the two shocked humans, the force of it sending rocks and dirt flying in every direction as it passed.

Jumping out of the way in the last minute, Tai and Mimi gave a cry of surprise and pain as they smacked into the hard rocky surface of the area.

Standing with a slightly disappointed expression, Witchmon covered it up with a quick giggled as another blue sphere of energy formed in her hands. "My you two are fast, but you're still only humans." The last having a bit of coldness to it as she smirked darkly at them. "And you can never hope to survive this little present, Baruruuna Gale!"

"Pepper Breath!" A small explosion followed the cry as an orange colored object intercepted the blue colored gale storm, barely a fraction of the power of Witchmon's attack getting halted by the explosion, but still getting delayed enough for Tai and Mimi to avoid getting ripped to shreds.

Turning to the source of the surprise attack, Witchmon clenched up her fists and growled a bit as she spotted the one who had dared to interfere. "Who are you?"

Facing the same direction, both Tai and Mimi blinked as they saw a small orange dinosaur like digimon standing proudly on the top of small rock. The sight of him making Tai frown as a memory of having seen a similar sight in the past came back, but just barely enough to make him fully grasp it other then the knowledge that, "I know him."

Smirking as he ran over to Tai, the small digimon took up a protective stance in front of him. "You sure do pal, I'm Agumon, your partner digimon, and do you know how long I've been looking for you?" Voice laced with a bitter feeling, the digimon powered up another fireball attack. "Heard a few strange rumors about you on my search, but other then that nothing really."

Coughing a bit in both embarrassment and sudden regret at knowing those rumors were likely true, Tai quickly shook his head and stared at the digimon. "Wait, you're my partner?"

Eyes narrowed slightly in anger, Witchmon held out both hands in front of her. "I don't care who or what you are you little pest, all I know is that my master want that boy dead and that is all that matters." Shooting forward, her hands spread out and began to glow with the same blue color as her attack, "Time to end this!"

Tearing his attention away from his partner and towards the attacking digimon, Agumon grinned as he fire off his attack, the small fireball hitting Witchmon, and doing absolutely nothing to her, other then make her even madder then before, "Um. This could be a problem"

Pushing himself up while Agumon had been speaking, Tai took a step forward in a reflex action, for some reason feeling a great deal of fear that this digimon could be hurt by the attack Witchmon. "Look out!" This action brought out a reaction form his D3, the black and orange object erupting into life as the black color on it faded away in a small cloud of digital data.

The light shooting out of it halted Witchmon in her tracks as her current target was impacted by it. "Now what?" Her question spoken out as if she expected someone to answer her, nut her answer came a split second later as the small light expanded into thick a pillar of light surrounding the small digimon, alight she had seen before, while the master had instructed her on their enemies and their powers. "No!"

Inside the light, Agumon's body glowed brightly as it felt the power needed to evolve to the next level enter it. "Agumon digivolve too," His body suddenly shooting up as it expended in all directions, with a brown bone like helmet forming on the top of his head, while his body took on a more dinosaur like appearance with several blue stripes forming on his back and legs. "Greymon!"

Cursing under her breath, Witchmon cast a slightly nervous stare up at the now towering digimon, she had not expected that the boy should have been able to digivolve any digimon. He had no partner digimon, she had died when he turned traitor to the master.

Frowning a bit, she jumped back to avoid getting stepped on, momentarily forgetting why she had been puzzled, but still a bit curious as to how she knew the boy had had a partner digimon before this one.

Then she fully gave her attention to the fight, the power she had stored burning to be released, and her fighting spirit roaring that she finish her job before her master became to angry and decided to hurt her. "Baruruuna Gale!" The attack shooting out with more force then before, this time not just tossing rocks away, but truly ripping the ground apart where it passed over it.

Roaring in response to the attack, Greymon's mouth flooded with fire he spat out a fireball several times larger then the ones he had created as Agumon. "Nova blast!" The attack impacting with Witchmon's attack several meter's away from him.

As they impacted, both attacks struggled as they tested their power in the need to overpower the other attack, resulting in a massive explosion dead center between them as no superior one was found, also resulting the ground getting ripped up as a crater formed.

Lifting up both her hands, Witchmon cast a hateful glare at the massive dinosaur digimon, it was the second time he had dared to interfere in her job, and nothing would get in the way of her job, nothing. She owned that much to her master after the gentle and kind way he had treated her for so many.

Shaking her head a bit, she powered up another one of her attacks, banishing the distracting thoughts into the back of her head, she would worry about the confusing thoughts later, now was the time for action, not thinking. "Aquari Pressure!"

Running forward as the digimon seemed to lose her focus, Greymon opened his mouth to deliver a final fire blast in her face, Then several blast of blue colored light shot from her hands with her hands as her yell, the blue light quickly forming together into a powerful water blast hammering into his face and mouth, killing the fireball he had been creating.

Taking the opening her attack had caused, Witchmon took off running, black cat nearly getting tossed off form its safe spot on her shoulder as she ripped her broom out and used it to pole-vault up onto Greymon's head. "There you are!" Her yell signaling that she had spotted both Tai and Mimi, both of who were watching the battle from a safe spot behind the big dinosaur like digimon.

Lifting their heads in shock, both Tai and Mimi grew pale as they spotted Witchmon flying down towards them, blue energy forming in both hands. Then Mimi felt herself getting shoved down as Tai tried to cover her with his body in an attempt to protect her from Witchmon's attack.

Ready to fire off her attack, Witchmon's smirk faded away rapidly as Tai turned his head over his shoulder to look at her, his eyes hitting hers right on, the sight of them causing the area to fade away and leave her on a desk inside a dark room, a small fire burning nearby as the same boy looked at her with a concerned expression, the same girl held in his arms as the one he had been protecting just before. "Tai?"

Snapping back into reality, Witchmon stared down at the boy, her whole body frozen as she hovered only a few centimeters away from him with an attack ready to be fire off. The powerful feelings of both respect and fondness struggling with the desire to carry her job in her head as she stumbled back away from him.

Focusing her eyes on him again, she hissed out the single question running through her at them time. "Who are you?" Then she released the power she had gathered back into her in a slow way, lifting off from the ground at the same time with her broom under her as transportation.

Casting a confused look after her, Tai shook his head a bit as he tried to figure out why he and Mimi weren't dead. The digimon had had a chance to blow them up at close range, but had only stared at him. Then he turned to see how Mimi was doing when a small orange body tackled him. "Hey!"

Hugging his partner, Agumon smiled widely as he felt the human boy under him. "I missed you so much, how many years have it been now?" Babbling on as he failed to noticed the very shocked expression on Tai's face. "I'm sorry I didn't find you sooner, but I had barely gotten to server after your returned before I somehow was distracted." His tone of voice a doubtful at the end of his sentence.

Smiling a bit at the sight of the messy haired boy lying on the ground with a digimon sitting on his chest, Mimi smile faltered a bit as she thought of something that had puzzled her. "Why didn't that digimon finish us off? Well, not that I wanted it too, but we wide open for crying out loud."

Turning his head to focus on Mimi as she ranted, Tai took a deep breath, something that was a bit hard with a digimon sitting on him, and exhaled as he sighed deeply. "I don't know, but for a moment, it looked like she recognized us as more then a target." Silent after that statement, Tai wondered as to why the strange digimon would have mumbled out his name the way she had, it hadn't been an angry kind of mumbling, but in a confused way.

Then he shook his head and faced Agumon who had remained silently doing that little explanation. "Agumon was it?" Seeing the digimon nod, Tai smiled a bit at him. "I'm sorry, but my memory about you is rather fuzzy, actually, I didn't think I had another digimon partner until someone told me."

Behind him, he could feel Mimi's puzzled expression, but ignored it as Agumon crawled down from him. "Anyway, I'm Taichi Yagami, Tai for short." Holding out a hand as he pushed himself up into a sitting position, he smiled a bit. "And sorry about forgetting about you."

Giving him a deeply confused look, Agumon held out a clawed hand to shake his. "It's okay Tai, but do you mind telling me what's going on." Voice slightly strained, he looked around the place. "I know you have a habit of getting into trouble Tai, but something tells me this is more serious then the war we fought with Babel."

"Who!" Mimi asked as she settled down, or rather kneeled down, thankful for the fact that she had opted to wear some khaki shorts that day instead of her normal white skirt, it looked great on her, but it wasn't really meant to be used for kneeling down like she did right now.

Next to her, Tai's eyes had narrowed with a look of anger quickly forming on his face as a memory came to life. "Why that filthy rotten dirty!" His outburst dragging the attention of the other two to him as his words rose in sound level, "I can't believe it, that bastard's Babel, when I find him again, I'll."

The rest was lost as he began to spit one curse after another, both Mimi and Agumon feeling that getting the full story for his sudden anger out of him would have to wait until he had cooled down enough not to yell and scream.

-

Back on earth, the master shuddered a bit as a sudden cold wind blew through the air, as nice as the alliance with Oikawa was, he just couldn't stand the older man today, And that was why he was out here today, taking a small walk among the inferior humans and enjoying their worthless lives while his newly created warrior finished off the traitor for him.

How the humans struggled through each day thinking they made a difference to the world he would never know. But he did know how wrong they were, they did nothing but help move those in control towards their goals for the world, people like him, but he would do more then just change a world, he would change two, for when his revenge was complete, the earth itself would feel the same anger that the digital world would.

After all, the two worlds were linked together, and any drastic change in one would affect the other. Toying briefly with his homemade digivice, a faint smile crossed his lips. Maybe he shouldn't visit himself, after all it had been a long time since he had done that and it only served to make him angry enough to nearly forget his plans and seek revenge on his tools for their help in his loss.

Then he dismissed it, he needed a place to think, and only in that special place would he find it. Laughing as he turned to leave the intersection, he cast a hateful look at those that dared to look up at him, those who dared to question themselves who he was.

They knew who he was, he had been on every ones lips after all, he was their newest star, but now they didn't have the right to be a where of that, no, the world had lost that right years ago when they accepted that copy of him instead of seeing it as a fraud, a simple trick made by the digital world to take his rightful place.

Moving more rapidly towards his destination, his laughter turned silently as he watched the other humans go about their daily lives all around him.

How he hated them.

They were nothing like his partner digimon, the only one he had ever been able to trust in completely. Together they had set out to take over the digital world and show them all who they really were.

And then those bastards from the guardian order and the four sovereigns had shown up. And called on the only two who had been able to defeat him at the time. His partner had been lost in the battle before his eyes, and he had been judged unworthy to remain in the digital world and thrown out.

But he would never admit defeat. He would return, and Gennai, Azulongmon and the other sovereigns would pay, they would all pay for what he had to suffer. No longer able to even take up his own place in this world, since their replacement had taken that from him more then 6 years ago.

Turning around as he reached the end of a street, he stopped and looked up at the entrance to a graveyard, one of the few if not the only one in this area of Tokyo. Passing grave after grave, he stopped and stared down a specific one in front of him, a grim smile forming as he read the name on it.

"I knew you would come here sooner or later."

The sudden voice from behind making him spin around in alarm, eyes instantly locking onto the two persons standing before him. "My, my, if it isn't Gennai, and who's the girl, isn't she a bit young to be your girlfriend?" Voice lazed with venom as he spoke, the master walked forward until he stood at level to level with Gennai.

Eyes a bit cold as he watched him, Gennai gave a soft sigh. "I had hoped it wouldn't be you, but all of the signs were there, the vampire like virus, the sudden anger and darkness in the fully infected." Crossing his arms inside the sleeves of his robe, Gennai gave a small nod at the blond haired girl next to him. "Catherine, would you be so kind as to call the digi destined?"

Nodding in response, the French digi destined reached down and pulled out a D-terminal from her own robe, opening it and starting to write down a message on it.

Turning back to face the master, Gennai reached out a hand to touch the master, not even flinching as it was knocked away harshly. "You must come with me, I can help you."

Eyes blazing with anger, the master stepped back and half turned away from Gennai, one hand sneaking into his coat pocket and pressing a small device with in it. "I don't need nor want your help bastard." Voice still cold, he looked down at the grave. "I lost all respect for you and your masters when they made that mockery of me, and when you banished me after killing of my digimon partner, I died, but then I decided to come back and thrown you and your masters out like you did to me, we'll see how you like to live in a world where everyone doesn't believe who you say you are is true."

Looking down at the grave behind the master and reading the name, Gennai shook his head in a sad manner. "We didn't mean to do it, but at the time we made him, we were fully convinced you were dead, please, come with me, and I can help you become who you once were." Voice nearly pleading at the last part, Gennai suddenly stiffed as he felt Catherine moved up behind him in a warning manner. "I know Catherine, I can feel them too."

Eyes glinting with dark amusement, the Master snapped his fingers and grinned as two figures jumped out to land on the ground before him. "Ah, well now Gennai, meet my new friends and helpers." Pointing at each of them, he laughed a bit darkly. "This is Arukenimon, and the fellow with all the bandages is Mummymon."

Taking in a deep breath, Gennai stared at the two digimons with utter confusion. "That power around them, it can't be, how did two digimons like them come into life?" Eyes locked onto the Master, he slowly inched a hand towards his side. "No matter, I can see you have no desire to be helped, but I warn you, no matter what it takes, I will see to it that you won't be able to repeat the tragedy of the past."

"Tragedy?" The word was whispered out as the Master took a step forward, hands tightly clenched up inside his coat. "The was no tragedy, It was a crime carried out by a bunch of self righteous bastards who thought they could just toy with me and my life!" Screaming out the last part, the master eyes glowing with pure hate. "Kill him, kill them both!"

Smirking darkly, Arukenimon and Mummymon jumped forward; fully ready to attack when Gennai and Catherine glowed brightly before fading away in a burst of light. The two digimons were left to stare in utter confusion at where he had been just a minute ago. "What just happened here?" The question coming from Mummymon as he turned around to face the master. "When we got your signal we hurried over here, but you didn't say we'd be fighting ghosts."

Eyes still full of hate, the master walked past them. "Never mind about them anymore, they were just a bunch of annoyances from my past." Rubbing a hand through his hair, the master sighed as he looked up into the air. "I didn't lie to you Gennai, I died that day I learned what you had done to me over the years."

Facing the grave, his eyes narrowed to slits. "Osamu Ichijori is dead, all that left is Babel, The Master of the vampire virus program." Eyes glinting with evil, he laughed a bit as he walked away from the grave. "And I will have my revenge on everyone who ever dared to destroy my life."

-

Silence filled the room as Tai stared slowly at the apartment door in front of him; he didn't even know why he had come here. Just that Mimi had asked him to follow her home after he had calmed down. And now he was standing outside the door that led into Mimi's apartment.

And while he wouldn't mind spending more time with her, he dreaded this moment more then anything else. How would they react to the fact that he was the one who kidnapped, hurt and turned their daughter into some kind of vampire creature?

He'd be lucky if he made it out of there without getting killed, heck, he would count it as a lucky thing if he could crawl away from it all when they were through with him.

Next to him, Mimi smiled a bit as she gave a small tug on his arm. "Come Tai, they're not that bad once you get to know them." Pushing open the door, Mimi walked out of the office room, smiling more brightly when she spotted her parents staring at the doorway with a look of hope in their eyes.

Pulling Tai out with her, she ignored the sudden shocked and confused expressions on their faces as they around a bit more in their chairs. "Mom, Dad, I want you to meet a special friend of mine, he's the one I told you about when I came home yesterday."

Giving a weak wave of his hand at them, Tai tried to come up with a good enough explanation as to why he was coming of Mr. Tachikawa's home office with his daughter. "Hi, I'm Taichi Yagami." Feeling even more scared, Taichi made a move to back up a bit as Mr. Tachikawa stood up in a sudden movement, nearly sending his chair crashing back.

"You!" The words spat out as a mixture of a question and a curse, the elder man advance towards Tai, fingers halfway curled up. "You're the one who kidnapped my daughter." Reaching out, he pulled Tai in closer to his face. "I didn't think you would dare show your face in this part of the world boy, I should kill you for what you put my poor Mimi through you little."

Pulling back a bit more, Tai cast a frantic look up at the angry man's face. "I wasn't my fault, I was being controlled by a virus." Close to slipping into a rant to defend himself from the raging man holding him, Tai cast a pleading look over at Mimi for help.

Except help didn't come form her but from Mrs. Tachikawa as she placed a gentle hand on her husbands arm. "Now, let him free, I'm sure he has a very good explanation, and excuse." Facing Tai, her eyes turned ice cold as she placed both hands on her hips. "If not, I will be the one to hurt him for what he has done."

Behind them, Mimi sighed as she shook her head. Maybe she shouldn't have done this so soon, but it seemed like a good way to make her parents stop arguing for just one day, besides she hadn't expected them to react so violently.

Only now she had to hope that Tai would survive their question round, or at least answer them to a point that they would accept from him. Sitting down at the table, she sighed a bit as she watched Tai try and answer a different question from both her mother and father at the same time.

TBC: Dark Alliance: Part 4

AN: New more then one chapter character introduced, hope n one feels Witchmon to be a annying person, since she wills how up later on. And for the second time, I revealed the Master's true identity, and I hope everyone can live with the name and person I put behind the ID of the Master.


	14. Part XIV

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Summery: AU, very AU and dark, with mentioning of torture, violence and blood drinking.

Revealing his identity to Gennai and Catherine at last, the master turned out to be Osamu Ichijori, Older brother of Ken Ichijoji, the Digimon Emperor. And with only one temple remaining to be looted and its core capture, the forces of evil are close to winning. And what is the secret of Witchmon, and how is she connected with Taichi

Special note: 'Thoughts'

* * *

Spawn of the vampire  
Part XIV  
Dark Alliance: Part 4

* * *

_"I can give you what you have dreamed off Jun, a chance to prove to the world how special you are, to become who you have always wanted to be." _

Staring around the pillar in the conference hall, Davis stared in muted surprise as his sister had picked up a conversation with a person much older then her. His whole body radiating evil from what the young boy could see, with the cloak he was wearing and that long purple hair he looked like a monster.

Like those creatures they was holding them captured in this place, ever since he had returned from that other world, he had been seeing his sister withdraw from the family and the world every day. That was why he had followed her, to see if she was in trouble, but he hadn't expected to find his sister talking with a stranger; one that wasn't even a human if what he had been saying was true.

Holding out a hand, the Master smiled at Jun as she slowly lifted up her own hand and grabbed his. "You won't regret this Jun." Titling her head slightly backwards, he grinned as he lifted up his hand. "When you drink my blood, you true power shall be revealed."

Eyes growing wide in shock, Davis felt his whole body tense up as he prepared to run out and stop his big sister for accepting this monsters deal, only to stop when he saw Jun pull back on the Master's sleeve of her own free will. "Will I become more then a normal human?"

Smiling gently at her, or darkly from Davis viewpoint, the Master gently bit into his own wrist, watching as blood flowed out between his teeth. "You will become like me, stronger, smarter, so much more then anyone else, and together, we shall take over the digital world and rule it." The last spoken out as he calmly watched as Jun drank from his wrist with great eagerness.

Pulling back after a short while, Jun smiled as she started to fall down, a small cough running through her body. Then the Master held her up as he looked into her eyes with a gentle smile. Still coughing slightly as her body shook, Jun looked up at the master from where she lay in his arms. "I can feel it, the strength running through me." Smiling gently, she still held onto his hand. "Thank you for this gift."

Watching Jun fall asleep from his hiding place, Davis bit back a deep in take of air as he watched the Master stand up and turn to leave the room. "I thank you Jun, for your willingness to help me gain revenge on those who have wronged me, all of them."

"Davis?"

"Davis?"

"Davis?"

Jerking his head up, the young goggle wearing boy cast a slightly confused look over at the girl shaking him, long purple hair falling down loosely behind her head, while her eyes were narrowed in annoyance. "Oh, it's just you."

Fists clenching up, Yolei could almost picture her eyes shooting out lighting as she glared at the young boy. "What do you mean just me?" Forcing herself to calm down before she punched him, she stood up and sighed loudly. "Okay, back to the important things, we need to talk about what's going on right now."

Nodding, TK cast a look around the small group in the room, consisting of the new digi destined, Davis, Yolei, Cody Kari and Himself. With Izzy and Matt sitting in as extra help for the moment. "True, we also need to discuss Ken, and how he's he been helping us."

"What do you mean helping?" Izzy asked as he looked up from his laptop, the small machine resting on the floor between the kids. "I didn't think you had seen him since that ambush two days ago."

Turning her head to stare at them, Kari smiled a bit. "Well, we haven't really, but there been rumors going around of him destroying the Control Towers, and we have even seen some of the places he has been." Watching the group as she spoke, she took a small breath as she focused on Yolei and Cody. "I really think he has improved, that he's becoming a true digi destined."

Hands close to being clenched up in anger, Cody leveled a glare at the older girl. "So, you think he's feeling remorseful for the crimes he committed, fine." Looking at the rest of the group, he closed his eyes as he spoke out the next part. "But I still don't think he belongs with us, and who's to say its not just a trick."

Yolei nodded in agreement and sighed as she turned to face the goggle wearing boy sitting next to her. "Davis, will you pay attention to this meeting for once?" Her voice rising a bit in pitch as she yelled out the words.

Shaking his head, Davis gave a deep sigh as he stood up and grabbed Demiveemon from his place on the desk. "Sorry, but I don't feel like this right now." Moving towards the door, he stopped and looked back. "And I don't care Yolei, Ken is one of us, and he should be fighting with us and not on his own."

Opening her mouth to protest, Yolei was met with a door closing as Davis left the room. "Honestly, I'll never understand him." Pouting a bit as she sat down, she looked at the rest of the group a she noticed them all looking at her. "What?"

Turning his head, TK looked over at Kari who ha turned to face him. "Kari, think you go after Davis and find out what's wrong, he trusts you more then the rest of us." Seeing her nod, he stood up and looked at the rest of them with a determined look. "The rest of us will find Ken, and see if he really has changed."

Closing the door as she left the room as well, Kari barely avoided hearing the first few protests from Cody on why they should ignore Ken and focus on saving the digital world from Jun and her master. "Hey Gatomon?" The words causing the white and purple feline like digimon to look up from where she was following her partner. "What do you think is wrong with Davis today?"

Giving a small shrug as she jumped up to rest in Kari's arms, Gatomon looked out at the staircase as they left TK's apartment. "Not sure, even Demiveemon didn't know what was wrong with him, all he could say was that he had been like that since he last returned from the digital world."

"There's nothing wrong with me." Davis voice cut through the air, as he looked up at them, the goggle wearing boy standing on the floor below them. "I just need some fresh air."

Eyes narrowing, Gatomon flicked her tail a bit. "You're really bad at lying, you know." Pointing one glove covered paw at him, her eyes flashed a bit. "So tell us what's wrong."

Looking up at them, Davis left had shook a bit as he turned to face the stairs leading down to the next floor. "I said, there is nothing wrong with me." Moving to leave, he stopped as a white blue passed him and landed on the ground before him. "Out of my way."

Reaching the same floor level as him, Kari stared at Davis back as he was busy glaring at her digimon partner. "Davis please, we can't help you if you won't tell us what's wrong." Moving closer, he watched as he turned to face her. "Davis, tell us, we can't work as a team if we keep secrets from one another."

Giving her a dark look of despair at her words, Davis moved to walk around Gatomon; only to have the feline digimon move to prevent it. "Kari, this has nothing to do with any of you, it is my problem." Voice cold, the young boy eyes glinted with anger. "How can you know what it's like to fight my sister?"

Sending back a look of sympathy, Kari sighed softly. "Because I had to fight my brother."

Quiet at that comment, Davis looked down at the ground with a pain expression. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that." As he spoke, his body relaxed a bit. "It's just, Jun's my sister, and I try so hard to put up this image that I can handle it, that I won't be hindered by her taunts and death treats." Voice turning slightly unsure, Davis held Demiveemon close to him as he forced back a yell. "But I can't, I can't ignore the fact that she is a family member anymore, she's my sister."

Silence filled the stair case after that comment, Kari staring at him as she remembered the shock of seeing her brother as the one who had attacked that village, kidnapped Mimi and hurt Michael, and how it had affected her emotionally. "You shouldn't."

Head snapping up at the words, Davis focused on the girl before him. "What?"

"Don't ignore the fact that she is your sister." Kari mumbled out as she smiled at him in a halfhearted way, wondering if she said the right thing, if he would understand what she meant. "If Tai could be saved from the darkness, then your sister can as well, you just have to get through to her."

Smiling back at her, Davis gave a small nod. "I know, but I don't know how to do it you know, I wasn't really close to my sister back then." Looking down at Demiveemon, he sighed again. "And she's controlled by a full version of that virus thingy."

"Davis." Kari's voice cut through his depression as she gave him an annoyed look. "Cheer up, if you could defeat Ken and bring him out of Darkness, then you can do the same for your sister, so stop moping about it will you." Smiling, she stepped a bit closer to him. "Besides, I like the happy Davis more then the depressed one."

Smiling a bit at her, Davis shook his head. "If you say so Kari, I'll try and get through to her." Grinning a bit wider, he took a step back towards the staircase leading up. "I convinced Ken to stop being the digimon emperor, and I can do the same to my sister." Stepping up on the first part of the staircase, Davis couldn't help but mutter out a few more words under his breath. "I can, but it might take a lot more then it did with Ken."

Giving him a thumps up in return, Kari felt her smile a bit more then before. "Now that's the spirit Davis, and I know you can succeed cause we'll help you all the way." Grinning a bit, she looked back up at TK's apartment. "So come on, we still have to discuss this with the others, and find out a way to win."

As soon as Kari turned her eyes away from him, Davis felt a bit of the cheer die out of him. Sure it sounded nice to just pull Jun out of the darkness like they had done with Ken. But Jun was different, she wasn't confused and convinced it was all just a game, he had seen it; she knew what she was doing, and who she was doing it against.

How could he ever hope to save someone from a darkness they had embraced willingly despite knowing what it was like?

* * *

Feeling a headache coming, Babel sighed as he rubbed two fingers up and down on his temples. "The trap failed, and after all the work I went through to program the gate program to recognize the virus in their bodies." Voice cold with anger, the young man lifted up his head as he slammed both his hands down onto the desk. "You know how long I had to work to create that program? And yet you let them win?"

Hovering silently before her master as he ranted, Witchmon cast a small look off to the side to see Jun and Penmon sitting on a chair near the wall, a cold smirk on their faces. "I am sorry master, but I couldn't kill the traitor, somehow he managed to escape me." Her voice turning more and more lower in volume as she spoke, hoping that he didn't saw through her small lie.

Spinning the office chair around as Jun gave off a small giggle, Babel cast a long and harsh look over at her, causing the messy haired girl to shrink back a bit in terror, as she was now the subject of his anger. "And you, despite having brought me the third digi core, I understand you sill haven't found the one that lies in Azulongmon's temple?"

Standing up as he spat out the last few words, he felt his hands curl up from the raw anger running through him. "I don't even think you fools care that I was confronted by Gennai and his harlot yesterday!" Voice growing he didn't look as the door into the room opened. "I had to relay on the help of Oikawa's helpers to save me."

Forcing himself to calm down, the Master looked over at the door and nodded as he saw who was standing in it. "And that brings us to the reason you're here today." Holding out a hand, he grinned as he pointed at a nearby chair. "One digi core remains, and we don't know where it is, but information has narrowed it down to somewhere on File Island, it can't have been removed to far from its temple, or the barrier would have been down by now."

Moving the mouse on his desk, he watched as the screen lit up with a map of the island in question. "I want the two of you to find it for me, and stop the digi destined once and for all while you're at it, I need to gain access to the digital world as soon as I can." Turning to face Witchmon, his eyes narrowed. "And you will take on the traitor again, but this time attack him when he's completely alone."

Watching the digimon nod, Babel pulled out a small drawer and fished up a thin deck of cards. "And to ensure success, I'm giving you some Imitamon's to help in this matter." As he spoke, he pulled a card from the top and placed it on the table image up. "Yes, this one should do nicely."

Snapping his head up as he placed the card on the table, he stared at each of his servants in turn. "Are there any questions about your objectives?"

Daring her luck, Jun slowly lifted up her hand and wished she hadn't when her master focused his full attention on her, only giving her nod to show that she could speak. "What about Arukenimon and Mummymon, will they join us on this mission?"

Tapping a finger on the table as Jun finished speaking, Babel frowned a bit as he settled back down in his chair. "They are on a mission for Oikawa, now get out and finish your jobs." Watching them leave, he focused his attention on the person in the doorway. "Now, I trust you are prepared as well?"

Stepping in, Oikawa closed the door and smiled a bit as he walked over to stare down at Babel behind the desk with a half bored expression. "Of course, however it has proven to be a bit of a trouble with those digi brats lately, several more controls towers have been destroyed and since we can't produce more, we're forced to stop those kids from ruining them."

Nodding in agreement, Babel stood up as he turned of the computer. "I take it you have planned a trap then?" his voice mildly curious as he turned to stare out the single window. "I would be glad to offer up one of my Imitamon's to help you in this matter, since they are my enemies too."

"That won't really be needed." Oikawa replied as he picked a small cell phone from his pocket. "Our forces are already in position, your two imitamon's and one of my little helpers creations should take care of them once and for all." Planting a hand on the short man's shoulder, Oikawa seemed a bit happier then before. "Now come, I believe that Mummymon have finished with dinner, and I for one am starving."

Not answering to Oikawa's last comment, Babel simply shrugged as let himself be led out of the small room by the older man in a relaxed manner, after all, he was right, dinner did sound like a good thing at the time, but the stupid digimon had better have gotten some decent blood for him this time.

* * *

Standing completely still, Gennai sighed as he dropped down into a chair with a deep sigh of defeat. "Things are out of control, far to much I fear." The words mumbled out as he faced the wall behind him. "The digi destined will be facing something they are simply not prepared for yet."

Standing calmly before him Catherine nodded as she listen to him talk, one hand resting on her shoulder as she tried to remember the last time she had felt such a level of shock and fear as when her mentor and guardian had been scared. "Just like that time in Paris."

Looking up as her voice broke through his brooding thoughts, Gennai stared at her with a mixture of pity and sadness as he saw the look in her eyes. "Catherine, you shouldn't be here for this, things will be getting more dangerous in the future then you think."

Standing up and walking over to her, he turned her around to face him. "Osamu will be coming after me soon, and he will hurt anyone who is connected to me in anyway." Voice slightly shaky as he spoke, Gennai rubbed a hand over his chin. "It would be best if you were to return to earth again."

Lowering her eyes, Catherine shook her head slightly as she turned away from him with a slight trembling. "There is nothing on earth for me anymore, not since that day." Closing her eyes, the French girl could clearly see herself standing before a burning house, mouth wide in shock as Kiwimon stood protectively beside her. "You took care of me after I was drawn to the digital world with Kiwimon, you are all I have to depend on since Tyranomon destroyed my home, and took my parents lives as well."

Lowering his head in a silent moment, Gennai remembered the shocked moment when he heard of a human child present in the digital world, after the gates had closed for the chosen ones. And to find that it had been a mere girl who had been on the edge of suicide had been a greater shock. "I understand, but you will one day have to work with humans again, you are my student, and as such, you must learn to pass on your knowledge and help others."

Turning around to face his data storages, Gennai pulled a chair over to it and sat down in it. "And maybe I should do the same, the digi destined will be needing as much help as they can." Mumbling out the words, he pulled down the first disk and read it title. "They will need all the information I have on Osamu, everything I knew about him since he was banished from the digital world."

Walking over to assist him, Catherine stopped short at the last words from her mentor. "You banished him, but why?" Her tone of voice taking on a sharp edge as she placed both hands on her hips, her whole body radiating her anger at what she had just heard.

Looking up, Gennai stared right into his student's shocked eyes. "We had to Catherine, for the very survival of the digital world." Placing a hand on the armrest, he shook his head as he continued to explain his actions in the past. "Years ago, Osamu and four others were called in to battle a great evil, they won, but in the process Osamu had disappeared from the battle ground."

Voice tired as he spoke, Gennai stood up and began to walk back and fourth in the room. "We looked everywhere for him that we could, and then one day he just showed up when we had begun to give up hope. We question him about his sudden disappearance, but to our shock a month had passed with him not even remembering a single second of it." Stopping up, he stared right at her with a concerned expression. "We also noticed that he had lost his digivice in the time he had been gone, but we still decided to return him to earth before his absence became to great."

"Years passed and then one day we shocked to receive reports of digimons running amok, destroying everything they saw, even each other." Eyes darkening as he spoke that part, Gennai clenched up a fist as he watched Catherine's reaction to his tale. "We studied it and found the cause to be a new virus infecting the digimons, making them stronger but also more savage, more troubling was the fact that it had an effect on the digital world itself, a weakening of the barriers between the two worlds."

Sitting down, Gennai took a deep breath before he continued his tale. "And then the cause of it showed up, and to our horror it was Osamu. He declared that the digital world would pay for its crimes against him, for all the pain we had caused him." Taking a small break to pull himself together, Gennai closed his eyes to hide the pain in them. "He declared that his new name was Babel and that he would reshape the digital world to suit his needs, the reason, we took his home and life from him, so now he would take everything we cared about from us."

Catherine nodded as she watched her mentor. "And you called in Tai and Jun to stop him, clear away the virus and save the digital world." Speaking with a neutral voice as she placed both hands on the armrests of her own chair.

Gennai didn't answer her at once, instead staring down at the floor. "After they had won, Osamu was nothing like the caring boy we had once known, Tai and Jun had deleted his partner to get to him, and he blamed us all for it." Tapping a finger on his chin, the older man sighed again. "In the end, it was decided to send Osamu back to the real world again, dismantle his digivice and hoped that the shield we had constructed would seal away the virus and the activator of it, Osamu himself."

"But it seems something wasn't as we had believed it, something we should have thought off. For no gate had been open between the two worlds since we sent Osamu home for the first time, so how could he just show up a back into the digital world?" Eyes narrowing slightly, Gennai stood up and marched over to him computer, inserting the disk into it. "We only made the clone to spare his family the pain of losing him, and only when we were 100 sure that he was missing."

Moving over to stare at the computer as well, Catherine gave Gennai a sharp look at his last question. "Are you saying there is someone else behind all of this?"

Narrowing his eyes, Gennai nodded as he began to call up the data onto his computer screen. "Yes, but who would stand to gain from all of this, and why go to such a length just to cause a massive amount of damage in the first place?"

* * *

Staring out over the rather large ruin that had once been a village, Jun shook her head a bit before she turned around to face the even larger ruin that had once been the base of the Digimon Emperor and the spider like digimon in her human form. "Are you sure this will work?"

Titling her head to the side in a slightly dismissive way, Arukenimon giggled a bit as she ran her hand through her hair, the movement causing a few strands to get caught between her fingers. "Of cause it will, once I set this place to melt down, it will bring those brats running to us, and right into my trap." Voice slightly sarcastic, she held up the hand with the strands of hair betweens it fingers. "Spirit Needle!"

Watching the transformation of the control towers into a single large digimon with little to no interest, Jun slowly turned around to stare out over the desert. "Davis, my little brother, now that I am finally more then just another face in the crowd, I won't let you or anyone stop me."

Cracking her whip, she smirked as two Imitamon's moved into sight, quickly glowing as they transformed into the digimons whose data they had been given. "You two will take out the purple haired girl and the little brat with the bowl cut when Arukenimon give you the command." Turning away as they nodded in return, Jun settled back to wait again.

But this time she had more to think about then getting rid of her brother, that Traitor Yagami and the rest of the digi destined. She also had to worry about her new rival, that Witchmon that the Master had created, he hadn't even spoken to her about it, she had returned from the last temple she had looted in time to see the master send off Witchmon on her mission.

Damn it, it was her mission to get rid of the traitor and his little love toy.

Reentering into the room, Kari and Davis stopped as they noticed everyone else turning away from the computer screen to face them. "Uh, is something wrong?" Davis words cutting through the air as he and Kari moved further into the room.

Nodding Izzy moved a bit back from the computer, forcing Matt and TK to move as well. "I just picked up this strange reading from the digital world, something is giving off a huge reading of power and it is starting to grow stronger." His words making both Davis and Kari rush to get a better look at the screen. "The point of origin is from Ken's old base in the digital world and if it allowed to grow, it will explode."

The words making the group tense up as they focused even more on the map, Davis quickly stepping up to it. "We'll have to stop it." Holding up his digivice, Davis faced Izzy with a serious expression. "You think Ken knows about this?"

Shaking his head in a negative way, Izzy brought up the digital gate and stared at it. "I'll try and contact him, if he has turned good, he could help us with this." Ignoring the annoyed looks he got from Yolei and Cody, the red haired boy focused on getting the gate open. "Now hurry up, there only half an hour before it explodes "

Nodding, the new digi destined held out their digivices and stared grimly at each other. "Digi Port open!" The light of the gate swallowing them up as Izzy and Matt watched on.

As the light died down, Izzy focused back on the map and readings from the digital world. "Good luck guys."

* * *

In another part of the digital world, Witchmon giggled slightly as she watched her trap get laid, the fake digimon she had been issued were hiding until she called on it, and that would only be when she was sure her pray couldn't escape. "All I need now is some bait to lure them out." 

Sitting on her broom, she gave a deep thinking sound as she tried to figure out a way to get a hold of some bait, only coming up with one solution. Kidnap one of the chosen digimons and use that as bait. Mouth curling up into a very feline like smile, Witchmon began to fly off, in search of a fitting digimon to capture.

Below her, a deep roar filled the air as the Imitamon began to grow impatient, its eyes glowing as it stomped around waiting for something to do, an action that finally ended with it breaking out of hiding in order to roam across the digital plains.

From above, Witchmon stared down at the sight and frowned. It would seem that this Imitamon had a flaw in it; it was acting for too much like the digimon it had copied. But it looked like this digimons rampage of destruction was going to work better then her plan of kidnapping a digimon to use as bait.

With the amount of damage it could cause, it wouldn't be long before this digimon would call one of the digi brats to in order to stop it. And if she could at least finish at least one of them off, she would be in a better position with her master.

Purring a bit, Witchmon stopped and shook her head. It was getting to be far to often that she acted so unlike the digimon that she was. And she still didn't know whys he had been unable to kill of the traitor last time. "Taichi." Or why she knew his name so well, the master hadn't even bothered to name him, just called him traitor.

* * *

"That went well." Mimi mumbled out as Tai and her stood in front of the computer in her dad's office, her eyes a bit closed as she watched Tai standing next to it with a half smile. "I'll visit tomorrow okay, better go back to school before my parents really freak out about my absence." 

Flinching a bit at her words, Tai nodded as he forced down the knowledge that he didn't have a school to go too, or even knew if he could be accepted into one. But if Mimi showed up, he could handle waiting around with nothing to do; it would give him time to think about his future at least. "I'll be waiting for you, okay."

As he spoke out, the digi port activated and sucked him in, this time delivering him in the middle of a forest of all places, the trees blocking out the sunshine from above. "Great, now where am I?" His words a bit bitter as he had expected to show up in the place where he had battle Witchmon.

The sound of a small twig snapping had him spin around to face the direction of the sound, relaxing as he saw Catherine standing there with her hands folded inside her guardian robe. "Greeting Taichi, I am pleased to meet you again." Speaking softly she walked a bit closer and smiled. "Gennai had asked me to deliver a message to you and the digi destined, and if you're wondering, he rewrote the gate program to deliver you here so I could hand over the message, it was the fastest way."

Rubbing his head a bit, Tai looked at her as she held out a small CD for him. "Why didn't he just mail it to them instead of using me as a delivery boy?" His voice neutral, Tai still did manage to send over the message that he was slightly upset over it.

Getting a slightly apologetic expression, Catherine looked down at the ground as she sighed. "It is not possible at the moment, for some reason, the ability to send mail to the real world has been blocked." Voice slightly confused as she spoke, it turned strong with determination. "We belive it had something to do with the sudden increase of power from the digimon emperor's fortress."

Nodding a bit, Tai briefly wondered just how much the master had been able to control lately, first the gate program itself, and finally this mail block. "Earlier today I was dragged off to a badland like part of the digital world, something to do with the virus in me allowing them to single me and Mimi out and force our destination to be what they wanted."

Watching the messy haired boy as he spoke, Catherine took note of what he said, each word making her frown a bit more as it matched in with what they had been finding lately. "This is not good, if he can work with the very codes of the barrier between the worlds, he far to close to be able to break through."

"He must have gotten a hold of another digi core then." Tai mumbled out as he as he tried to call up the knowledge of what it was Babel had talked to him about over the years that he had served him. "That means that there is only one core remaining in this world."

"And that would be Azulongmon's." Came the slightly stressed out voice of Gennai as he walked into the forest area, his robe showing signs of a fast walk to get there. "There has been a slight development, seems one of those fake digimons is rampaging through the south parts of the digital world, and we have confirmed the barrier between the worlds to have lost most of its power."

Turning to face him as he spoke, both Tai and Catherine got a dark expression on their faces as they listen to what he said. "This is not good, the digi destined are busy trying to stop the melt down of the digimon emperor's fortress, and they can't spare anyone to fix this new problem."

Nodding in agreement with what Catherine said, Tai clenched up his hands. "Then I'll stop this digimon, all I need is to find Agumon and get to this location." Voice trailing off, he blinked as he noticed both Gennai and Catherine staring at him with a strange look on their faces. "What?"

Shaking his head, Gennai gave a short smile as he grabbed Tai's shoulders. "Nothing, but as soon as this crisis is over, you and the other digi destined must come to my house, I fear that it is time or me to disclose the where about of Azulongmon's temple and his digi core."

Still looking a bit unconvinced, Tai picked up his D3 and held it out. "One question, how will Agumon know where to find me?" As he spoke, Tai watched the direction that Gennai had begun to walk in. "He stayed behind when I return to the real world with Mimi and."

Once again Tai stopped as his conversation was interrupted, this time by a small orange dinosaur like digimon that came out of the forest, huffing a bit as if he had been running for a long time. "Tai, I'm glad I found you, when Gennai told me what going on I came here as I could."

Not allowing Tai to answer, Gennai cast a quick look over at him. "Time is very important right now, if what I've guessed is true, this is nothing more then diversion for something else." As he spoke, Gennai looked up at the sky with a critical expression. "The digimon is rampaging through the plain covered lands to the west of here, but be careful when you fight it."

Turning around fully, Gennai smiled a bit as he looked over at Catherine. "And I would like it if you would be as kind as to help him in this matter." Walking away as he got a nod in response form Catherine, Gennai quickly began to go over the information he had gathered up for the digi destined recently, first all the stuff about Babel he had compiled onto a CD, and then the location of Azulongmon's temple, a secret he had kept for so long.

If only they hadn't been so fast to banish Osamu so long ago, none of this might have happened in the first place. But as it was, he couldn't help but feel that something wasn't right here, that he was missing a great deal of the puzzle. And that which was missing was what would help clear up this whole mess.

Like where Osamu had been after that final battle, why hadn't he tried to make contact with them? And how had he shown up in the digital world after they had sent the first digi destined home, when they had been completely sure that no trace of him remained, that only a clone could prevent the disaster in returning only four humans. Where had the virus come from, it couldn't have been made in such a short time, it was far to complex for that, and the strange effect it had on humans.

* * *

Staring at the collection of guardians and digimons before him, Osamu shook his head as he tried to figure out how they could have claimed to have sent him home when he was already standing before them, he hadn't been lost to the darkness, they hadn't needed to clone him. "You, how could you do that to me, it was my life!"

Stepping forward from the small group in front of him, a much younger looking Gennai reached out a hand to help calm him down a bit. "If you will just listen to us, had we known you where still alive then we wouldn't have done it." Still walking forward in a slow manner, Gennai tried to make sure not to anger him anymore. "We can fix this, trust us, all we have to do is."

"Shut up, you can't fix this!" His yell silencing both Gennai and the other guardians and few digimons in the place, Osamu glared harshly at the group before him with nothing short of hate in his eyes. "It was my life you took away from me, my life. All I have left is this mockery."

As silence filled the room after Osamu stopped talking, Gennai cast a small look back at the group behind him, and then nodded as he saw their expressions. "Trust me Osamu, we can fix this." Gennai almost pleaded as he stepped forward again, hand lifting up to reach him as he came closer again. "Azulongmon's power can merge you and the clone together, you will be yourself again, just let us help you."

Stepping back, Osamu reached up and looked at his digivice, the small white device filling his hand easily. "Go to hell old man, merging me with that clone won't fix anything, you're just trying to remove the problem you and that oversized lizard created in the first place." The last word yelled out as his digivice was hurled at the ground, landing just before Gennai's feet.

Turning halfway around, as he had finished speaking with them, Osamu watched with a look of disgust on his face as Gennai reached down and picked up his digivice. "I renounce my connection with you and the harmonious ones Gennai, as far as I am concerned, you can all die."

Walking off after that announcement, Osamu growled as he saw his only remaining friend move to follow him, Ears flapping slightly as the digimon hovered besides him. "Go away, I'm not your partner, that clone they made of me is."

"No." The single word had enough power to catch his attention as his digimon landed on the ground besides him. "You're my partner, but more importantly, you're my friend." Giving a rare smile, the digimon nodded as it hovered up from the ground with a big smile. "And friends don't abandon each other, no matter what."

Smiling gently at what his partner digimon had said, Osamu turned to face the horizon, and what the digital world had to offer him now that it was his home, the digital world was where he had to stay he mused, a bit despaired at the thought of it, his home, his family, his future belonged to a clone, something they had made when he had been lost in battle.

Did he really mean that little to them, was he and his friends just an expandable resource to help ensure that the way they saw things was the way the digital world moved. Feeling the rage bubble up again, he felt his heart pound a bit harder as thoughts of making them suffer like he did passed though his mind.

And the more he thought about it, the more it made sense to him. Why was he the only one to suffer, why should he be the only one to lose everything he cared about? Smirking as these new thoughts passed through him, he found himself regretting tossing away his digivice, but who cared about it; a genius like him could make a new one.

And when he had, this world would suffer like he did, they would know what it feels like to have everything you cared about stolen, by someone they trusted.

Laughing, Osamu slowly walked into the horizon, he would make them all pay, Azulongmon, the other soverns, Gennai and his guardian order. All of them would pay; they would all bow down and beg for his forgiveness.

Closing his eyes, Osamu shook his head a bit, if he really wanted revenge, he had to give up on everything he had been, no longer could he be good old Osamu, even if he took revenge for that name, it wasn't his anymore. No, he would seek revenge for Osamu's suffering as someone else.

He would no longer be Osamu Ichijori, from this forward, he would be called Babel, and it would be his age of darkness that destroyed the digital world. Rubbing his tongue across his teeth, a smirk formed as he felt his fangs touch it. He had no idea where they had come from, but it had to have something to do with his disappearance.

Stopping as he reached a cliff, Babel looked out over the digital world below him, hands clenched up at his sides as his mouth twisted into a sneer. He would corrupt this world, destroy it like they had destroyed him, and he knew how to do it now. The power of the world beyond the firewall could do it; the darkness would serve him as it had served their grates enemy.

"Look at it my friend, today a new era is born, the era of Babel's rule."

Nearly falling out of his chair, Babel shook his head as he stood up. It was tie to try and catch up on some sleep if he would be dosing off like this. And maybe, just maybe it wouldn't be a sleep plagued by his memories again. The past was dead he wasn't Osamu anymore. "I'm Babel, the digital worlds greatest enemy, and not just a little human."

Smirking to himself, He walked out of the room, with the three cores under his control, he had gotten the power to toy with the very data that made up the digital world, but all of it was just a warm up, blocking off their mails and programming the gate to send someone to a location he chose were nothing.

Soon he would be able to enter the digital world, and then, he would open a gate to the prison world where the rest of the virus had been trapped, and with it, he could reduce the guardians and the soverns oh so loved world into a nightmarish land under his complete control.

Maybe it was time to play out his biggest card, the birth of a digimon no one could stop. The final form of his Imitamon's would be a fitting choice to destroy the digi destined.

Only one thing could hope to destroy his good mood right now, and he wasn't around. But that led to a bigger question that did manage to make him frown a bit, just where was Oikawa? He'd been gone since they had eaten.

* * *

Rushing across the sand dunes, the small group of digi destined stared forward in hope as the towering structure of the digimon emperor's fortress came into sight, the signs of the battle with Kimeramon still plainly visible on the side and top parts of it. 

And standing arrogantly in front of them as they crossed the dune, was Arukenimon. Her spider like body taking up a good deal of space as she grinned darkly. "Well, well, the little heroes show up at last, rather late don't you think?" Speaking with a rather superior tone to her voice as she turned to view the fortress behind her with a bored expression. "There's less then half an hour before this whole place gets blown up."

"Oh yeah." Davis cried out as he held out his digivice confidently. "That still leave us with enough time to stop it, and take you out." Looking down at his partner, Davis nodded at him. "Go for it Veemon!"

Nodding back at Davis, Veemon rushed forward as he felt the power to digivolve rush through him. "Veemon digivolve too." His body once again growing to his much larger and fiercer looking champion form, two wings forming on his back as he finished growing in size. "Ex-Veemon!"

Behidn him, Yolei and Cody held out their digivices as well, along with their d-terminals. "Digi armor energize!" Their duel cries followed by the familiar glow as the digi eggs of sincerity and knowledge formed before them.

On the ground, Hawkmon blinked as he felt the power from the digiegg of sincerity flow through his body, triggering a change he had grown familiar with. "Hawkmon armor digivolve too." His body growing up into a humanoid shape covered in a robe and cloak, with throwing stars for his hands and feet, each one attached to his body by a vine like spring. "Shurimon, warrior of sincerity!"

Armadillomon feeling much the same amount of power flow through him, jumped up into the air as his body began to twist into a much bigger version. "Armadillomon armor digivolve too." Metal covered much of his body as he took on an insect like shape as he finished evolving. "Digmon, the drill of knowledge!"

Holding out his Digivice, TK stared harshly at Arukenimon, feeling patamon ohovering slightly concerned next to him. "Your turn Patamon." Trusting out his digivice as it gave a loud whining sound, TK forced down the anger inside of him, slightly concerned of what it would do if he had Patamon digivovle while angry.

Still hovering while hiding his nervousness, Patamon felt the power entered him, guiding him towards his normal evolution with no problems. "Patamon digivolve too." Body taking on a humanoid form, a metal helmet covered his head as a pair of wings formed on his back. "Angemon!"

"Gatomon!" Kari simply called out the name of her partner, watching as she was already moving forward, ready to help fight back Arukenimon and stop the explosion.

Feeling the power of the digiegg of light flow through her, Gatomon smiled, it might not have been the crest of light powering her up, but this was close enough. "Gatomon armor digivovle too, Nefertimon, Angel of Light!" Her much larger, sphinx like body landing the ground as she continued to run forward.

Leading the charge, EX-Veemon powered up his attack as he focused on Arukenimon in front of him. "Everyone, hit with your best shot!" Giving the order, he let lose the power he had gathered up. "V-Laser!"

The other digimons either standing behind him, or flying above him let lose with their attacks as well.

"Double Stars!"

"Gold Rush!"

"Hand of Fate!"

"Rosetta Stone!"

The five attacks heading right towards Arukenimon who flung up her hands in front of her. "Attack them my friends, Spider Tread!" The web line shooting out and blocking the different attacks as well as they could.

From behind her, a smaller shape moved into sight as fast as it could, jumping up into the air as Arukenimon gave the order to attack, its body lighting up with fire as it spun around. "Fire Ball!" The attack joining with Arukenimon's to block the five attacks heading towards the spider like digimon.

And finally, standing on the hill behind them, a towering shape lifted up a hand as a large lump of stone formed in it at his command. "Rock Ball!" The third attack to join the other two knocking the last remains of the digi destined digimons attacks away from them.

Smirking as she watched the digi destined stare in shock at her new friends, Arukenimon chuckles as she held out her arms in a boosting manner. "Well, what do you think of my new creations, Youkomon and Golemon?" Seeing the angry looks on their faces as they turned back to her, she chuckled a bit. "Ah yes, but that's okay, all that matters is the destruction of you fools, Attack!"

Rushing forward, Youkomon and Golemon stopped as a green shape shot past them, hammering into Arukenimon heavily and pushing her back through the sand. "Not so fast, we have some questions for you Arukenimon, and we expect you to answer them."

Opening her eyes, the insect like female gasped as she saw Stingmon hovering right before her. "What, you two are not supposed to be here, you should be." Eyes narrowing as she stopped talking, Arukenimon stood up in her full height. "It doesn't matter, not even you can stop the meltdown Ken."

Turning around as she spoke out the name, Davis stared in shock as he saw the lone figure of Ken standing on a nearby sand dune, face barely hiding the anger as he looked at her. "Ken, what are you doing here, never mind, thanks for lending us a hand buddy."

Looking over at Davis, Ken's eyes narrowed a bit he saw the goggle wearing boy speaking to him so friendly. "You shouldn't be here Motomiya, this is my problem, not yours." Voice slightly annoyed, Ken began to walk towards Arukenimon as he clenched up his hands. "That fortress was built by me, and therefore I should be the one to stop its meltdown."

"What do you mean, we're digi destined Ken, we help each other." Voice slightly hurt by the outburst from Ken before, Davis quickly ran up to stand next to the purple haired boy. "You're a digi destined, and that makes you part of the team."

Pushing Davis back a bit, Ken stared harshly at him before turning back to Arukenimon. "You, what did you mean when you said the control towers were yours? They were created by me."

Knocking Stingmon off her, Arukenimon jumped up and landed on the ground as her face split into a dark grin. "Ah Ken, you still wondering about our little talk earlier?" Voice sugar sweet with arrogance and contempt, her whole face turned into a deeply angry frown as he grabbed Stingmon in a chokehold. "But that is a secret you won't live long enough to learn, Attack them you two fools!" Yelling out the command she tossed Stingmon off to the side, eyes narrowing as she held up her hands in front of her. "Spider Tread!"

Rushing forward, Youkomon tackled Shurimon out of the air with a leap, biting deep into his shoulder as they impacted the ground heavily, fire forming around her teeth and adding to the pain her bite caused. The nine-tailed purple colored fox digimon took a great delight in causing the digimon below her to scream in pain.

"Cats Eye beam!" Then she was the one to feel pain as two beams of pink light hit her in the side harshly, the force of them sending her flying across the sandy ground and into a dune with a loud ump. Shaking her head and body clear of the sand; she stared as a large armor-wearing cat landed before her.

Casting a look at Shurimon as the samurai like digimon stood up, Nefertimon went back to keeping an eye on Youkomon as the fox like digimon began to glow with fire. "Shurimon, get ready, I think she's going too."

Letting the fire shoot off from her body in a massive sphere. "Fireball!" The heat off the attack melting the sand as it passed over it, leaving a trail of half formed glass behind it.

"Look Out!" Head snapping up Nefertimon's yell, Shurimon stared in horror as the armor wearing cat digimon the full impact of the attack in an effort to protect him, a faint glow slowly covering the large cat before she shrunk down into the form of Gatomon. "Stop her, Shurimon."

Seeing Gatomon pass out, Shurimon felt his body fill up with and rage, his whole body glowing as the full amount of his power flew into shi weapons. "Die you monster, Double Stars!" Sending hi attack flying, he stared as Youkomon barely managed to move before her body was cut into four pieces, each one taking on a black color before exploding into digi dust.

As soon he was sure Youkomon was defeated, Shurimon looked over at Kari as she picked up her digimon partner. Then he turned back to face Golemon as the much larger digimon battled with Angemon and Digmon. "Kari, Yolei, get Gatomon out of here, it's not safe for her anymore."

On the other side of the battle field, Golemon smashed both hands into the soft sand, sending a wave of it washing over the much smaller form of Digimon, leaving him halfway buried and in a prime position for a final attack as the massive stone monster like digimon raised both hands up over his head.

The only things topping him a beam of light smashing into his body, causing bit of the stone to crack. Looking up he snarled as Angemon flew in for a close range attack, getting joined by Shurimon halfway there. But he wasn't going to let them touch him, no way. Powering up his most useful attack, Golemon dropped down on all fours as the small hole on his back began to send out a pink colored cloud of power. "Sulfur Plume!"

Giving a loud curse, both Angemon and Shurimon fell back as the pink colored could hit them, their bodies locking up as if they had been poisoned severely. "Such a powerful attack." Came the comment from Angemon as he pulled his hand back, yellow energy surging in around it. "Hand of!"

He never got any further in his attack phrase as a large hand about the same size as his chest smashed right into his face, the blow sending him flying back to hit the ground painfully.

Turning in shock to watch it, Shurimon cursed as he suddenly remembered that the action would leave him completely open to an attack as well, his fears confirmed as the large fist smashed into him as well, the force of it sending him flying back as his body de digivolved back into his Hawkmon form.

Having pulled himself out of the sand dune, Digmon blinked as Hawkmon landed next to him, the small bird body sending up a shower of sand before it rebound back up and rolled across the dune a bit. "No!" Turning around to face Golemon with anger blazing in his eyes, Digmon shot off every drill he could, staring in shock as they barely left a scratch on Golemon's body. "How can that be?"

Of to the side of the battlefield, Kari stared in shock as well, then she narrowed her eyes a bit as she remembered Ken's words to them the last time they had fought these fake digimons. "Yolei, Cody, your digimons, try to have them digivolve normally, their champion forms should be stronger then their armor forms."

Staring at her, both Yolei and Cody blinked before shrugging, looking at each other, they stared down at their digivices, Yolei slowly smiling a bit as she held it up. "Its worth a try."

Giving her a nod in agreement, Cody held out his digivice as well, briefly wondering how he should do it, but then deciding to just try it and trust that they could make it work. "Digmon, digivolve back into Armadillomon, we'll have to try and do a normal digivolving to win this."

Pulling himself up from where he had landed after getting hit again, Digmon nodded a bit as he got the command, his body glowing a pale yellow as he felt the power of the digiegg leave him. "Okay Cody, I'm ready, now how do we do this?"

Getting a slightly hesitant look on his face, Cody looked up at Yolei with a questioning glance. "You have any idea on how to do a normal digivolving Yolei."

"No." Came the blunt answer from her as she looked over at Hawkmon. "But we better find out soon, or our partners are done for."

Huffing slightly, Arukenimon grunted as she watched EX-Veemon and Stingmon closing in for another close counter fistfight. "You two are getting on my nerves." Yelling out her frustration, she powered up an attack, firing it off, as EX-Veemon got close enough to her. "Acid Mist!"

Doubling back with a yell of pain, the large blue colored dragon man fell down onto a sand dune with a roar of anger, barely noticing Stingmon as the insect man like digimon jumped over him. "Spiking Strike!" His foot pummeling into Arukenimon's face several hundred times in a row.

Stumbling back to avoid it and finding that she couldn't, the spider like digimon lifted up her arms and fired off her spider tread, getting lucky enough to cause Stingmon to back off for a brief second. "Acid Mist!" A second she used to attack him more effectively.

Watching as both EX-Veemon and Stingmon had to fall back for a few moments, Arukenimon grunted as she felt the few places they had hit her, also noticing that one of her helpers had been defeated left her feeling a bit ticked off. "You fools don't get it do you, this is one fight none of you will win, Okuwamon!"

Roaring loudly as it broke up through the sand dunes, the newly arrived digimon lowered its head to stare at the two humans and their digimon partners before it, a pair of large pincers on it's head snapping together in a silent move, not even hinting at the power hidden in them.

Smiling at the two boys from her safe spot, Arukenimon grinned as she turned to watch the crashed fortress in the background. "Now, you four play nice with Okuwamon here, and make sure now to die as painfully as you can okay." Failing to hide the sarcasm in her voice as she started to walk away from the battle site, heading towards the sand dunes in the distance.

Watching the evil digimon as it advanced on them, both Stingmon and EX-Veemon took a step back just to see how big the digimon really was. "This is not good is it?" came the slightly less confident voice of EX-Veemon as he gathered up what strength he had left at the moment.

Shaking his head shortly, Stingmon held up his arms in front of him. "Now that we can agree on."

Behind them, both Ken and Davis simply stared in shock at the new digimon to have entered the fight.

TBC: Dark Alliance: Part 5

AN: Massive dark foreshadowing, I had Gennai tell the story of Osamu "Sam" Inchijori as I felt he would have the best viewpoint of it from the forces of good. Next chapter will begin the whole DNA digivolving parts for the digi destined, as well as another crest-powered digivolution sneaking in.


	15. Part XV

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Summery: AU, very AU and dark, with mentioning of torture, violence and blood drinking.

Revealing his identity to Gennai and Catherine at last, the master turned out to be Osamu Ichijori, the older brother of Ken Ichijoji, the former Digimon Emperor. And with only one temple remaining to be looted and its core capture, the forces of evil are close to winning then ever before. And what is the secret of Witchmon, and how is she connected with Taichi

Special note: 'Thoughts'

* * *

Spawn of the vampire  
Part XV  
Dark Alliance: Part 5

* * *

Watching the evil digimon as it advanced on them, both Stingmon and EX-Veemon took a step back just to see how big the digimon really was. "This is not good is it?" came the slightly less confident voice of EX-Veemon as he gathered up what strength he had left at the moment.

Shaking his head shortly, Stingmon held up his arms in front of him. "Now that we can agree on."

Behind them, both Ken and Davis simply stared in shock at the new digimon to have entered the fight.

Until Davis eyes narrowed a bit as he gripped his D3 harder. "Don't give Ex-Veemon, it doesn't matter how big he is, you can still beat him!"

Almost as if he had been fueled by the words from his partner, Ex-Veemon soared into action, crossing his arms in front of his chest as another attack powered up. "I hear you Davis, and I'll never give up!" Letting the Laser blast fire off form his chest, Ex-Veemon didn't waste his time to see if it was doing any damage at all, as he was already rushing forward to attack again. "Vee Punch!"

Behind him, Stingmon flew in fast as well, two small glowing stingers emerging from his wrists as he came closer to the much larger insect digimon. "Spiking Strike!" Each of them simply bouncing off the digimon as their barely had an effect on its hard shell at all.

Hovering in the air as well, Ex-Veemon had to grumble as he saw his own attacks had barely done any damage either. "Just how powerful is that digimon, Vee-Laser!" Watching as the insect digimon battered his attack away, Ex-Veemon was left open for a second as he turned to see where the laser would impact.

An opening the large insect digimon took advantage off as it took off flying, impacting the dragon man like digimon harshly in the back. "Beetle Horn Attack!" The attack sending Ex-Veemon flying out of control down into a sand dune that covered him completely. "Double Scissor Claws!" Striking out with its arms at Stingmon as next, it missed as the fast moving digimon pulled back to safety.

"Vee-Laser!" Exploding upwards as the attack was fired off, Ex-Veemon emerged standing the middle of the sand dune as he watched the attack get battered away again. "Davis, got any ideas, my attacks can barely scratch him." Rushing forward again, the dragon man like digimon jumped up over another swipe of the those arms and lashed out with his leg in retaliation right into the lower part of Oukuwamon's face. "Vee Kick!"

Roaring in annoyance over the attack, Oukuwamon pulled up and grabbed Ex-Veemon with an arm before he could react, using the blue colored digimon as a throwing weapon when Stingmon came flying in to attack once more, this time knocking them both down.

Biting his lips slightly, Ken turned to face Davis next to him. "Why are you still here, hurry up and stop the fortress from blowing up, me and Stingmon can keep him busy." Turning back, he sopped as he felt Davis grab his arm. "Don't think about changing my mind, you know its the only way."

Facing Ken with a slightly annoyed expression, Davis didn't remove his hand from Ken's arm. "Why do you want to do this on your own, we stand a better chance of winning if we worked together, like a team." Almost yelling out the last word, Davis's face softened up a bit as he looked over at Ex-Veemon and Stingmon. "You're one of us Ken, a digi destined, and together we can win this."

"How can you say that? After all I did, you should hate me!" Ken yelled back as his finally pulled his arm free from Davis grip. "I'm the cause of this, she's using my control towers to make her digimons, so it's my problem not yours"

Grabbing Ken's arm again, Davis's eyes flashed as he stared right into Ken's face. "Will you stop that, I'm helping you because its right, because you do that for a friend, and I'll be your friend if you'd only let me!" Yelling out the end of the sentence as loud as he dared, Davis face Oukuwamon as he tried to swat out Ex-Veemon and Stingmon from the air. "We can handle this Ken, as a team, as friends, so what do you say."

Watching Davis as he smiled at him, Ken felt a large part of his resolve about working with the digi destined, and the young messy haired boy faded away. "You, but why?" Seeing Davis grin, Ken gave a small smile back at him. "You think we can beat him as a team."

Smirking at the question, Davis merely gave him a thump up in return. "I know we can." Holding out his and, he watched Ken intently as the other boy seemed to be having some internal struggled about it. "You want to give it a chance."

Slowly reaching out, Ken took the offered hand and smiled a bit. "Maybe just once." Smiling a bit as he saw Davis grin beam even brighter back at him, his brightening mood suddenly vanishing as a bight light emitted from his digivice, as well as Davis's. "What is that!"

Narrowing his eyes a bit to see through the light, Davis merely stared helplessly as Ken as the light grew a bit bright still. "Not sure, but I think its a good thing."

Feeling a sudden rush of power, Ex-Veemon blinked as he saw Stingmon glow as well, the insect digimon moving closer to him as the power increased. "Ex-Veemon!"

Almost unsure of what was happening, Stingmon felt his body drawing closer to Ex-Veemon's while a wave of power swept through him. "Stingmon!"

"DNA Digivolve too!" Spiraling around each other, both Ex-Veemon and Stingmon felt their bodies merge together, their power mixing together into a much more powerful form. Armor covering their front, back, shoulders and head as well, with large twin cannons forming at their hips and four wings sprouted out of their back. "Paildramon!"

The now bigger and more powerful looking digimon yelling out his name in a mixture of both Ex-Veemon's and Stingmon's voice before it moved to face Oukuwamon.

Watching them, or him now, Davis nearly dropped his digivice from shock. "They, became one?"

Ken didn't reply or make a comment to it, far to shocked by the sight of the new digimon to even say something about it at the time.

Reacting as fast as he could, Paildramon spun around to face Golemon, the two gun cannons at his hips snapping up into attack position as soon as he got a clear view of the large stone man like digimon. "Desperado Blaster!" Several bullets of white energy ripping lose form the gun nozzle into the air before impacted with Golemon's back.

Each of the hit getting a cry of pain from the digimon as the rocky surface broke away to reveal the black, clear surface of evidence that it really was nothing more then a group of transformed control spires. And then that surface even shattered, reduced to nothing more then a cloud of black colored digital data that faded away in seconds.

From her safe spot, Arukenimon snarled as she saw another one of her creations simply brushed away, and this one by a fusion freak of a digimon. "You." The word dripping with venom as she jumped off the sandy ground, slamming all six of her legs into a badly prepared Paildramon. "You will pay for that!"

Tossing her off as her scream died down, Paildramon huffed a bit as her saw the insect woman look at him. "Give it up lady, you are no match for us now." Snapping his gun cannon into place again, he tensed up as he saw the confident smirk on Arukenimon's face. "What?"

Less then a second later, his answer came as a powerful insect leg smashed into him form behind, its force enough to send him forward through the air, and right into an attack from Arukenimon, her web lines smacking him back again, but with a lot less force then the Oukuwamon's attack had.

Shaking his head, Paildramon groaned as he found himself facing two powerful foes, rather then one as he had briefly thought. "I can't believe we forgot about Oukuwamon." The words spat out as the two digimons fused into one ducked a follow attack from another one of Oukuwamon's insect legs.

Smirking as her arms lifted up to attack again, Arukenimon allowed her smirk to grow even smugger. "Too bad loser, and with Oukuwamon on my side, I'll take you down with no problems what so ever."

Getting even more tense, Paildramon prepared himself for his first major battle, wondering just how he could stand up to the two digimons at once.

* * *

The walk so far had been done in silence, something which was starting to get on Tai's nerves, even if he did prefer the silence sometimes, this was not one of them. "So, you live with Gennai, right?" It was a dumb question, but at least it could hopefully break the ice between him and this Catherine girl.

Looking up in surprise at getting talked too, when the last fifth teen minutes had been nothing but silence, the blond haired girl took a single look to see that the messy haired boy was indeed a where of what he had asked her, even if he didn't even know what the words had made her think about.

Still debating why Gennai had opted to have her help Tai, she frowned a bit before answering him. "Yes, he took me in after a rather, final event." Her voice telling him that it was a subject best left alone at the time, if not forever. "He became the father that I had lost, and I decided to became his apprentice when he asked me."

Next to her, Floramon gave a small shrug as Agumon cat a curious look over at her, somehow hoping that the plant type digimon would tell them some more then what the blond haired girl would. Not getting anything more then a shrug, Agumon turned to face Tai. "Say, you have any idea what was up with that crazy digimon we met earlier, she seemed to know you from some place."

Slowing down a bit, Tai shook his head as he was once again reminded of the way Witchmon had spoken his name, as if she had known him a longer time then just the fight they had with her. And once again he had to leave it unanswered as he simply lacked to many clues to successfully figure it out. "No idea, maybe I met once, maybe I didn't."

Turning her head slightly, Catherine stared at the messy haired boy as he talked with his digimon partner. "You two mind speeding it up, we don't know how much damage this rampaging Imitamon can cause." Sounding a bit more snappish then she had intended, Catherine ignored the annoyed looks getting shot at her.

"Man she's bossy." Tai mumbled out as he focused on staring at the forest path before him, Feeling Agumon walk next to him as they kept heading towards this so called evil fake digimon.

Stepping over a tree root, Tai cast a quick look over at the blond hair girl as she did the same, lingering a bit as he saw just how those blond hair locks of hers framed her face when she moved it to the side a bit, a small smile of appreciation forming on his face before he shook his head viciously, banishing the thought. He liked Mimi; he had chosen her as his queen, so why did he find a bossy blond-haired French girl interesting. He had already picked the queen of his heart.

Noting the strange behavior from Tai as he shook his head while muttering something about blond and cinnamon colored hair and queens, Her face turned rather pink before anger clouded it, both of hands clenching up at her sides. "Hey! Will you focus on the task!" Her voice rather heated as she turned to regard Tai with a mixture of tiredness and anger. "Gennai is trusting us to do this, and I for one won't fail him."

Looking up with a start, Tai grinned a bit in embarrassment as he noted that all three of them were staring at him. "Sorry, I was just, thinking a bout something." Turning to regard Agumon, Tai smirked a bit. "But I think I know a way we get to this evil Imitamon a bit faster."

Getting a slightly scared expression as the other three focused on him this time, Agumon gave his best smile. "Uh, you don't expect me to carry you all, I'm not strong enough for that."

Holding up his digivice as a more wider smirk formed, Tai nearly grinned as he noted Catherine and Flora brighten a bit as well as they got on to his plan. "Trust me Agumon, in a moment, that won't matter, Digivolve!" A bight column of light filling the air at Tai's command, the light covering Agumon perfectly a split second later.

"Agumon, Digivolve too, Greymon!" Towering up over them, the giant dinosaur like digimon with a bone like helmet gave a slight growl of disagreement as he focused on Tai below him. "Is this wise? What if I need my full strength to fight this digimon? I'll be tired if I have to carry all of you through the forest."

Giving his partner an annoyed expression, Tai simply placed his digivice on his belt. "I know, but look at it this way, we have some help with us this time, so I think we can allow ourselves to cut a corner of two."

Eyes narrowing a bit at the words, Greymon would have snorted at the explanation. "I still don't think its a good idea, and you three are the only ones cutting a corner, I'm one who has to walk through the forest, with all three of you on my back."

Rubbing a hand over his eyes, Tai briefly wondered where his digimon had picked up that attitude form, and how he could have put up with it all those years ago. "Let's just go Greymon, and I'll find you something nice to eat when we're done."

The promise of food, and very good tasting food, worked like a charm as Greymon took off running as fast as he could with all three on his back, pushing several tree branches out of way in his haste to reach their goal.

Turning his head slightly as he felt a pair of arms sneak around his waist, Tai blinked as he saw a rather determined looking Catherine holding onto him as Greymon rushed forward. "You okay back there? Shall I tell him to slow down a bit?"

Not looking up at him, Catherine kept her arms firmly locked around his waist as they continued towards the area Gennai had told them about. "Non, I will be fine in a bit, I am just not used to riding on digimons so it will take some time to get used to this form of transport."

Giving a faint nod in response, Tai focused his sights on where they were going, while trying to ignore the fact that a rather beautiful girl were holding onto him, finding it rather hard to do so for some reason.

* * *

Winching slightly as Paildramon got hit but yet another attack, Yolie bit her lip before turning to stare at the two boys looking at the fight a bit off, both of them yelling out encouragements to the fused digimon up above. "We have to help them Cody, we have to."

Getting a slightly stiff look to his body, the youngest of the group looked over at them as well, a hesitant look in his eyes as he saw the blue haired one of them yell out a warning to Paildramon. "But Ken, he did so many evil things, I don't know if I can help him."

"You must!" came the harsh reply from behind them as TK and Kari reached them, both of them cradling their partners protectively. "You can't keep on blaming him forever Cody, nothing good will ever come of that."

Nodding in agreement, Kari looked up at the fight above them, Paildramon firing off a desperado blaster that both Oukuwamon and Arukenimon ducked. "He's right you know, everyone deserve a second chance, even Ken." Holding up Gatomon as she spoke, Kari gave a slightly weak smile. "Even Gatomon worked for someone evil once you know, but she changed her ways and is now my partner and best friend."

Focusing on Cody, her eyes hardened a bit. "And don't forget, my brother was also evil once, and he was just as bad as Ken was, but you don't seem to complain about him."

Winching a bit at that comment, Cody quickly looked away from the older girl. A bit of a pain filled emotion running through him, as he had to admit that her comments were true. He hadn't complained as much over the older messy haired boy's quick forgiveness by the others, but he seemed to resent giving one to Ken.

Was it fair to anyone if he acted that way? What would his grandpa say about it? Did he only resent Ken because he had seen the things he had done, rather then just getting told about them?

Turning away from the others, Yolie looked over at Hawkmon as the bird type digimon began to glow. "I'm, I'm going to help them, cause its the right to do." Placing both hands over her digivice, she smiled at Hawkmon as he looked back at her with a feeling of pride. "You're going to help me as well, aren't you Hawkmon?"

Lifting up a wing in a determined way, Hawkmon blinked one eye at her in a teasing way. "Of course Yolie, I'm your partner digimon, no matter what you decided to do, I'll support you decision 100 percent."

Smiling a bit as a single tear ran down her face, Yolie grinned and held out her digivice. "Then lets do it Hawkmon!" The device giving out a loud screeching sound as it began to glow brightly. "What, what happening?"

Glowing with the same light, Hawkmon smiled as her as he felt his body get flooded with power. "I, I think I'm digivolving Yolie, you did it!" At his last comment, his body faded away as a bight column of white light filled the air. "Hawkmon digivolve too" Body expanding, Hawkmon felt his wings grow even bigger, a more powerful and sharp beak forming on his face while two large horns grew out of the sides of his head and curled to aim their tips in a forward direction. "Aquilamon!"

Over at the battle, Arukenimon was busy laughing her head off as she had successfully managed to wrap up Paildramon in a few think strands of webbing, the dragon man like digimon getting spun around by her as she lined up to send him flying right into Oukuwamon's snapping pincers. "I can't believe it, I'm finally getting my revenge on you brats for all my humiliations."

"Blast Ring!" The insect like digimon fun getting broke as Aquillamon shot in and fire doff a massive purple colored ring of power into her side, the force of it distracting her from spinning Paildramon around over her head.

Taking the opening as it came, Paildramon flew backwards, ripping the web holding him out of Arukenimon's hands, shredding it just in time to avoid Oukuwamon's pincers as they snapped together right behind them. "Thanks Aquillamon, and now for you!" The last spat out as the guns at his side snapped into place. "Desperado Blaster!"

Screaming loudly as each attack hit her, Arukenimon seethed, as she was thrown backwards into a sand dune, her whole body getting covered in it. "Bastard!" Screaming out the word as a curse, she tore back out of the sand, just in time to blink as a massive yellow ball with spikes on it came flying right at her. "What is that?"

Watching as Arukenimon took the full attack of his newly digivolved digimon's attack, Cody smiled as he looked down at his digivice, a small amount of pride rushing through him at the knowledge that his digimon had been able to digivolve the normal way after all. "Ankylomon, help Paildramon and Aquillamon against Oukuwamon."

Nodding in confirmation, the large digimon rushed off to help face the massive insect digimon hovering in the air above the battlefield.

Turning to face the others, the young boy frowned before looking over at the crashed fortress. "Shouldn't we be doing something about that explosion?"

Up ahead of them, Davis and Ken manage dot pick up that comment form Cody and silently stare da tone another, sharing the same thought. "We'll do it." Davis yelled out as he turned to face the fortress. "You others stay here and contact Izzy, try and find out how much time we have left."

Nodding TK placed Patamon on his head and pulled out his D-terminal, already punching in the message for Izzy. "Davis, Ken, be careful over there, and don't worry about Arukenimon, we'll keep her away from the fortress as well."

Watching the two boys run off, TK turned back to see the battle overhead, smiling as he noted how the three digimons were already working together like a team to take down the other digimon. Then a beeping sound drew his attention back to the D-terminal, a puzzled look forming on his face as he read the message Izzy had sent. "What the! Davis, Ken wait up!"

"Too late TK." Kari commented as she saw both Davis and Ken had reached about halfway to the fortress, then her eyes moved to face Tk as her face grew tense. "It's good news is it?"

Sporting a dark frown, TK just stared down at the D-terminal as he closed it. "The fortress is not going to blow up, but Izzy picked up the traces of activity from the upper parts of the fortress." Turning to face Kari, TK sighed as he looked over at Davis and Ken as they vanished into the fortress. "They're most likely heading right into a trap."

Moving silently through the ship, both Davis and Ken kept looking around them, expecting someone to jump out and attack them at a moments notice from one of the deep shadows of the ruined fortress. "I don't like this, it's too much like one of those sci fi movies with the face ripping monsters."

Merely rising an eye brown in response to the messy haired boy's comment, the former digimon emperor kept an eye open as well, but for a different reason. The fortress had crashed all right, but who was to say all the digimons he had been keeping prisoner at the time had escape, or even left the place.

And right now, he didn't have time to come face to face with his past, to get attacked by a digimon with a good cause to wanting his death for the enslavement and torture he must have forced it to endure. No, they had to find out what had happened, and why the ship wasn't going to explode anymore.

Stopping at the emergency staircase, the blue haired boy looked up at the many floors above, mentally groaning at the thought of having to walk up every last one of them. "I wish there had been at least enough power left to make sure that at least one elevator had been working."

"I agree." Davis muttered out as he began to walk up the first set of stairs. "My muscles are so going to be complain about this later on." Not really having much more to say after it, Davis cast a discrete look back over his shoulder to see Ken walking right up the staircase behind him. "So, what was that deal with Arukenimon about earlier?"

Slightly tensing up, Ken kept his eyes on the wall of the staircase, one hand gripping the railing harshly as he was flung back mentally a few hours, once more listing to Arukenimon mocking him from his computer, telling him that he was simply a poor fool that had been controlled all along.

Forcing the thought away, Ken instead settled for leveling a firm look on the messy haired boy before he became to lost in that memory to focus on the present completely. "Nothing, it's just something between me and her." Picking up the pace a bit, Ken suddenly stopped while grabbing onto Davis's arm. "There's someone in the data storage room."

Blinking a bit at the sudden panic in Ken's voice, Davis turned his head around as he planted one foot on the next set of stairs, freezing as he noticed the small line of light coming from a door built into the wall, a line of light that was moving a bit. "You think there's a digimon in there, or someone else."

Shrugging a bit, Ken slowly moved forward, planting his left hand on the door, carefully pushing it open a bit to stare in through a small crack, eyes moving from side to side in order to spot anything that might be dangerous. "Looks like its safe, but we should still be careful."

Pushing the door completely open, Ken walked in and stopped almost at once as he saw just what state the place was in, several chairs overturned and a desk nearly ripped open by the looks of it. "What happened here?"

Breaking his concentration as it started, Ken turned his head to see a familiar figure walking out from one of the side rooms, a small lap top held in one hand while she cradle a whip in the one free hand she had left. "How nice to see you again, and you too little brother."

Smirking widely, Jun left her whip uncurled into its full length while she worked to secure the laptop if she had to get into a fight them. "I guess Arukenimon's stupid trap failed then?"

"You got that right!" Davis yelled out as he walked up past Ken, one hand snapping out to point at Jun while she grinned slightly at him in the same superior way as the last time. "What are you doing this time Jun, looking for something else to give you power, besides selling off your soul?"

Eyes flashing a bit at the accusation, Jun tighten her hold on her whip, a sharp outtake of breath leaving her mouth as she got her slight build up of anger under control. "My soul, I'm not sure I know what you're talking about Davis, I'm merely picking up something we felt could be of use in the near future."

Moving his eyes down to the laptop, Ken narrowed them as he moved up to check the sign over the data storage room she had walked out from just a few minutes ago. "So, you want the data I used to create Kimeramon with?" Clenching up a fist, Ken got ready to tackle the older girl if she as much as tried to move. "That data is going to stay right here, I'm not going to let someone else construct a monster like that."

Smirking slightly as she pattered the lap top secured on her belt, Jun smirked a bit as she saw just how much it got on the blue haired boy's nerves. "Kimeramon, you think we'll build another failure like that, no, my master got a much more brilliant plan in mind for you fools, and that is why we need this data."

Snapping her finger in a commanding way, Jun grinned a bit as her trusted digimon partner Penmon came waddling out of one of the other rooms. "Well, it's been fun, Davis, try not to get yourself killed before I can do it." Lifting up her arm, she stopped as Davis moved forward and grabbed onto it rather painfully. "Hey, let go of me!"

His eyes close to smoldering with anger, Davis kept staring into his big sister face as she glared right back at him, one hand lifting up the whip she had been holding in order to hit him with it. "I know the real you is still in there Jun, you can't tell me you gave up your soul just to become a slave to someone else."

"I am not a slave!" Came the rather heated reply as Jun spat out each word, ripping her wrist free of her younger brother's grip, ignoring the slightly stinging feel of her skin beneath the glove she wore. "I'm the first general of Babel's army, and the one who will rule the world along with him."

Moving forward at those words, Ken narrowed in pity his eyes as he stared at Jun. "You think you'll rule the digital world along with your master?" Each word dripping with sadness, and sympathy as he saw her eyes flick over to him in surprise and building hate. "Trust me, if your master is as evil as I was, there'll be no room for your opinion, or leadership once he has gotten what he wants."

Stepping back a bit, Jun froze as she felt Penmon reach out a flipper to stop her from moving any further, the fading hate coming back in full force as she felt her digimon lend her support to stand up to them. "You lie, he told me I would rule beside him, along with that traitor Yagami of course, but now that he's gone, it leaves more power for me once we have complete control over this world."

Lowering his eyes to hide the amount of pity in them, Ken felt Davis step forward this time, the young messy haired boy simply snorting at the words coming from his big sister. "Listen to yourself will you Jun, you saw how easy he tossed Taichi away and declared him a traitor, who's say he won't do the same to you and replace you with one of those fake digimons you use?"

At her side, Penmon hissed in anger as he could feel just what those young boys words were doing to his partner, and the one he had been made to keep watch over by the great Babel. "Jun, we must get out of here, use Megadramon to break down the wall, and then blow up this place once we get way." As he spoke, the digivice in Jun's belt began to glow a dark purple color, barely seen by anyone in the room but Penmon who smirked at the sigh of it.

Smiling lightly at the advice from her partner, and along the sudden surge of a superior feel of her importance to the master filling her, Jun began to giggle a bit in a way that rapidly moved into a insane laugh as she began lifting up her digivice, the dark purple glow around it suddenly expanding to cover her whole lower arm in a glaring dark purple glow. "You're both liars, Master Babel promised me that I could rule part of this world, and he would never lie to me, never."

Opening his mouth to fire back a comment, Davis blinked as he felt Ken grab his arm and pull on him. "What are you doing, we're getting through to her."

Not answering until he had dragged the messy haired boy a few steps back, Ken shot a quick look back at the laughing Jun as the purple light kept on shining bright and brighter. "We got to get of here, or didn't you hear that they're going to bomb the place."

Eyes narrowing a bit for the untold time, Ken nodded in Jun's direction. "Besides, it won't matter what you say, she's being controlled by darkness right now."

Staring at his sister as she continued to laugh, Davis finally saw the distant look in her eyes and shivered a bit, the look very much like the one he had seen on dark ringed digimons, well, what could be seen besides the red glow coming from their eyes in most cases.

Turning around before following Ken's lead in running or jumping down the stairs, he ignored the echoing laughter haunting them along the way, or the sudden violent crash from above breaking off the laughter, the sound most likely caused by Megadramon ripping through the fortress walls in order to reach his sister.

Clenching up one hand as they reached the ground floor and began to race towards one of the many opening in the fortress, he couldn't help but look back over his shoulder and through the door leading to the staircase. 'Kari was right Jun, you can still be reached, but can I really get rid of that darkness controlling you permanently? After all, it remove any progress we made so easily'

Then he was forced to blink his eyes as he was pulled off the ground, getting carried through the air as a powerful arm moved to secure him. "Paildramon!"

"That's me." Came the reply in that odd mixture of Stingmon's and EX-Veemon's voice as the large, armor wearing, dragon man like digimon took off flying as fast as he could. "The other's spotted Megadramon approaching the fortress, so we felt it best if we came by to give you two a lift."

Grinning widely as they put as much distance between themselves and the fortress, Davis finally turned his head to stare at Ken who had a rather troubled expression on his face. "Hey, what's wrong Ken?"

Looking over at Davis, Ken's face ha a very serious expression on it. "She escaped with the data I used to make Kimeramon with, and the complete description on how to do it." Facing the horizon as he finished the sentence, Ken eyes narrowed as he noticed the sky darkening along with his mood. "Who knows what evil they will use that information for."

Falling silent after that, Davis looked back over his shoulder as the large fortress finally went up in a rather large explosion, the force of it sending the lower parts of the wreck even further down into the sand and dirt of the badland region.

The upper parts of the fortress spreading in all directions before some of the broke up into digital data clouds or fell down to land on the desert floor.

Closing his eyes as the explosion was over, Davis slowly felt a bit of his normal go happy mood die away again, he had seen that Jun could be reached, but it had to be done carefully, and without that partner of hers around, it had been able to remove all of those doubts they had awoken in her, and brought her back to the side of evil.

* * *

Moving through the forest, Witchmon grumbled as she failed to find any more traces of the digimons he had been tracking for the last hour. Her mood darkening since there hadn't been any signs of it, not even a broken tree to clue her in on which direction it could have gone off in.

Finally giving up on finding him, she reached down a hand and lifted op the device hidden away under her belt, a small buzzing sound going off as she activated it. "Master, there is something wrong with the Imitamon you gave me, he has broken out and refuses to follow my orders to return."

On the other end of the line, Babel smiled darkly as he listen to her, one finger tracing a circle motion in the air as he toyed with his digivice in the other hand. "Amazing isn't it, these digi cores, with three of them, I am now able to not only tamper with the digital world's code, I can also improve the imitamons."

Ignoring Witchmon's confused look, He sat up straight and gave her his full attention as his eyes grew completely cold and devoid of any emotion. "There is no problem with that Imitamon my dear Witchmon, it is simply an improvement I gave him as a test, he can now trace the traitor if he is within a given range of 50 KM, now find him."

Moving to turn off the device, he stopped as he gave her a closer look. "And Witchmon, have you found yourself feeling anything strange about Yagami?" Still devoid of any emotion, in both eyes and voice, he still made Witchmon shudder a bit as she shook her head in a negative way. "Good, now go and find your lost Imitamon."

Watching as the device switched off, Witchmon sighed from frustration before replacing the device and urging her broom to take her up a bit more, the small hope that maybe she could spot him from the air more effectively then by tracking him from just above the ground.

Tracing a finger across the evening sky as she moved above the tree line, her eyes refocused on the ground below after shutting off the faint feeling of having watched it before, or something like it, but with a strong, and friendly person talking to her.

But it couldn't be, she had awoken in her master's lair, her body stiff and cold from the floor she had been lying on at the time. But it was the feeling of pain and loss sweeping through her that had nearly made her panic, until he had embraced her, told her who she was, and what had happened.

She was his creation, she lived to serve him, and her job was to find the one who had betrayed the Master, the one who had cost him his home and hers as well.

This Taichi Yagami would pay for the humiliation he had caused the Master, and she would make him regret everything he had done to the one who had given them both life, the one who had saved his life when no one else could.

* * *

Still Moving through the forest on Greymon's back, Tai cast a small look back at Catherine as she began to ease up on her death grip like hold on his waist. "Feeling a bit more comfortable riding like this?" Trying to keep the question from coming off as a hostile one.

Looking a bit suspiciously at him, Catherine finally settled for nodding a bit in response, her eyes drawn over to stare at something in the distance. "There, its over there!" Snapping out an arm, she pointed at the growing shape in the distance that she had managed to spot.

Turning his head, Tai nodded as he saw it too, briefly narrowed his eyes as a frown settled on his face. "Doesn't look like that much of a challenge to me, what can it really do?" Titling his head, he saw that Greymon had already gotten the hint and had begun to change direction to advance on the enemy digimon. "You ready for this pal?"

Rumbling a bit in response to the question, Greymon's mouth filled up with fire as he picked up the pace a bit. "I'm always ready Tai, you know that." Cutting of the conversation after that, Greymon focused on the digimon as it too turned to head directly towards them. "Nova Fire!"

Getting a dark roar in return as the digimon saw the large fireball flying towards it, it seemingly became quiet clear to the two humans on Greymon's back as the fire lit up its perfectly. The digimon looking like a normal reptile like digimon, but for the two other heads it had for hands stood out a bit too much alone with the two tails. "A Deltamon?"

Blinking her eyes a bit, Catherine cast a quick look over at Tai as he finished muttering out the name of the attack fake digimon. "How did you know what form it had taken? None of us ever told you that." Her question turning into a demanding tone in the end while her eyes harden to match her voice.

"I'm not sure." He mumbled out before focusing on Greymon as they continued to charge towards the digimon. "Try another Nova Fire attack, the first didn't seem to do much!"

Not replying to Tai's yell, Greymon simply did do as he was ordered, or were rather advised to by his partner as another volley of fire began to form in his mouth, taking careful aim at his opponent's chest area. "Nova Fire!"

Both sensing and see the second round of fire heading towards its, Deltamon eyes seemed to glow in a sickening yellow color as power surged through its body, the mouth of all tree of its heads glowing with the same light. "Triplex Forces!" The attack fired off as its roar filled the air.

About two thirds of the way to Deltamon's body, the Nova Fire impacted the Triplex Forces, the Fire ball shuddering for a brief second as it was torn apart by the yellow beam of energy, a beam that didn't even gave the hint of slowing down after that, but rather continued right towards Greymon's surprised, and shocked head.

Kicking out rather harshly to snap his digimon partner out of his shock, both Tai and Catherine watched as Greymon seemed to snap out of it in time to move back violently to avoid getting hit. "That was too close, seems he's a bit stronger then the normal Deltamon should be." Came a slightly shocked comment from Tai as Greymon stopped moving again.

"Seems that Babel has improved on his fake digimon designs." Catherine voiced out as she lifted up her digivice into the air with a single hand, the other one still wrapped around Tai's waist. "Digivolve!"

Behind her, Floramon had already begun standing up when the order from her partner reached her, along with a rush of power filling her body. "Floramon, digivolve too." The plant body twisting a bit as a bright light covered it for a second, a light that wend it receded showed that Floramon had become a slightly taller, wingless bird with a small helmet covering the top of her head. "Kiwimon!"

Running forward on Greymon's back, his beak snapped open as he got clear of Tai and into a position for a perfect shot at Deltamon's head, the fake digimon charging at them with a roar of pure and absolute rage. "Pummel peck!"

Stopping and shaking his head from side to side, Deltamon's eyes closed as more and more of the smaller birds head projectiles kept on hitting him, then he gave another roar and twisted around, lashing out with his tails to knock away the bird heads hitting him.

Narrowing his eyes as he saw Deltamon turn his back to them, Tai grinned as the digimon had left his back wide open for a sneak attack. "Greymon!"

Not wasting time, Greymon once more filled his mouth with fire, this time aiming it right at Deltamon's unprotected backside. "Nova Fire!"

Screaming in pair as the fire hit, Deltamon slowly turned back to focus on Greymon, each of his tree heads slowly snapping their jaws shut in unison.

Losing a bit of his confidence, Tai looked back at Catherine, a slightly apologetic expression taking the place of his otherwise confident expression. "I think it would be best if you got of, this battle won't be an easy one to win."

Mouth becoming a thin line, Catherine stared at Tai as her eyes narrowed a bit. "Whatever, you just have to make Greymon digivolve again." Seeing the puzzled expression on his face at her comment, the blond haired girl sighed loudly. "Tell me you have that crest your sister got from Gennai? The one that belongs to you, the crest of courage."

"Um." Came the reply from Tai as he turned his head away, one hand going up to where the crest would have been if he had worn it. "I didn't feel comfortable wearing it, not yet."

Rubbing her free hand across her face Catherine sighed loudly once more as she turned to face Kiwimon firing off another volley of bird heads at Deltamon, slowing down the large fake digimon once more. "Gennai, I'm doing this for Gennai and no one else."

Feeling a bit more confused at her sudden mumbling, Tai blinked as something glinted from her around her neck as she slowly pulled out a gold chain with a square, pink colored object in a tag case attached to it. "You have a crest?"

Ignoring Tai's question, Catherine took a deep breath as her hand closed down gently on the crest. "Please, Kiwimon, Digivolve!" Snapping open her eyes at the end of her sentence, she smiled as a loud, screeching sound filled the air while her digivice started shaking in its place on her belt.

Up in front of them, Kiwimon jumped off Greymon's head as a strange yellow beam of light shot down from the sky, hitting Kiwimon, as she was halfway down in her jump. "Kiwimon digivolve too." Body twisting rather savagely for a second, the bird like shape expanding as it became much larger, several vine like objects shooting out to the sides of it. "Blossomon!"

Staring down at the plant digimon before him, Deltamon simply grunted in an insulted kind of way before opening all three heads, light forming inside each set of jaws as they had fully opened. "Triple Forces!"

Docking under the beam of light as it shot towards her, Blossomon snapped back up in her full height as the beam had passed, several glowing points of light forming in the center of the small flowers at the tip of each vine as they began to spin. "Spiral Flower!" At the yell, the vines snapped out harshly and sent each flower flying forward with a sound very much like a buzz saw.

Moving his head back a bit, Deltamon roared out in pain as he got hit by the spinning flower heads, several lines getting drawn across his body as the flower heads circle him and headed back to Blossomon's vines, the lines glowing faintly as bits of digital data seeped away from them.

Still sitting on the back of Greymon with Catherine, Tai cheered at the damage done to Deltamon. "Alright, Greymon, hit him now with everything you have!" Snapping out a finger as he spoke, Tai grinned as Greymon began to charge forward, fire forming in his mouth.

Then it faded away as a powerful, blue colored tornado like attack hammered into the forest floor between Greymon and Deltamon, the sheer force carving a small crater into the earth. "Aw, how could you start without me Deltamon? I wanted to kill them as well."

Snapping his head up, Tai blinked as he instantly spotted and recognized the digimon hovering in the air above the battle field, her red robe giving her away along with the witches hat and broom. "You, Witchmon!"

Waving her hand at the messy haired boy in a friendly manner, her face lit up with a smile as she lowered her broom down a bit with her on it. "Aw, I see you went and replaced the brown haired one for a blond girl. What happened? She got too smart for you so you had to find a blonde one to feel like a human again?" Giggling darkly at the comment, she opened one eye to see Catherine glaring death at her. "And what's wrong with you Blondie?"

Left eye ticking rapidly at the last comment from Witchmon, Catherine felt her fingers crack a bit as she released her hold on her crest. "Stop calling me stupid!" The volume of Catherine's yell causing Tai's ears to ring as he took the full brunt of it being so close to her at the moment.

Smiling smugly at the girl's outburst, Witchmon simply settled for rubbing one of her hands on her chin in a thoughtful manner. "Well, I didn't really call you stupid, I just said he needed to find a blond girl to feel human." Grinning smugly as she finished talking, her eyes suddenly turned ice-cold as her hands snapped up into attack position. "And now, it's time to pick off where we left off last time Yagami." The sentence ending as two blue spheres formed in the palm of her hands. "Ready!"

"Triplex Forces!" Ducking back quickly to avoid the beam of light, both Witchmon and Greymon glared at Deltamon as the large digimon began to advance forward, more and more digital data seeping away from his body as the lines left by the flowers began to grow larger and larger with each passing second.

Mouth opening at the sight of what was happing to Deltamon, Witchmon quickly turned to face Tai and the others again as they were staring smugly at her. "What? How did you two manage to hurt Deltamon like that? He should be stronger then a mere champion digimon."

Holding up her crest for Witchmon to see, Catherine was now the one who wore the smug smile as she noted the slightly confused look on the witch like digimons face. "This is the crest of trust, with it I can digivolve my partner into an ultimate level digimon."

Clenching up one hand as blue light began to swirl around it, Witchmon le tout a cold snarl as she focused on the blond haired girl. "So you have a crest do you, well, you can't take on both of us at once Blondie." As she spat out the insulting name, Witchmon noted that Greymon mouth were filling up with fire again, fire that wasn't aimed at her but at Deltamon moving towards them slowly. "Hey? What do you think you are doing you oversized lizard?"

Not listing to Witchmon as she ranted at him, Greymon focused on the struggling Deltamon, aiming his attack right at the point were more then two line of fading data were meeting. "Nova Fire!" The attack hitting right were it should despite Witchmon screaming in anger at him.

Letting out a final roar as the fire hit him, Deltamon body twitched a few times as it crashed into the ground, each of his tree heads letting out a final moan, as the lizard like one closed its eyes before losing all color like the normal imitamon's do before apart into digital data

Watching her back up digimon break apart into a cloud of data, Witchmon growled as her hands curled up into fists as a fire of rage formed in her eyes. "You will pay for this, all of you, mark my words." Yelling out the comment, Witchmon began to fly off, her broom picking up speed as Blossomon turned her attention to the witch like digimon.

Staring after her, Tai shook his head a bit as he finally let out a small breath of air that he had been holding. "You know, I thought we would have to fight her as well." Then he stopped talking as he noticed Catherine simply staring at him with a frown. "What?"

Replacing her crest back down under her robe, the blond haired girl picked up the hood and placed it over her head as she moved to slide down Greymon's tail, stopping only to look back at Tai from under the shadow of her hood. "You may be so bad as I thought Yagami, but it will take more then this to make me forgive you for what you did to Floramon, and all of those innocent digimons you killed as Babel's servant."

Losing all of his confidence, Tai turned his head away from her, hiding the fact that her words hurt far more then he wanted for her for anyone to see. "I never asked for your forgiveness, nor did I plan on ever getting it." Sliding down from Greymon as the large digimon settled down, Tai shot a look over at the blond girl as she picked her digimon when she dedigivolved. "It was nice meeting you."

Opening his mouth to reply in an offended way, Tai shut it as he thought better of it. "Yeah, likewise." Looking down at his digivice, he stared at the map on it. "There's a digi port a away form here Greymon, we should able to reach it before nightfall."

"What do you mean we?" Greymon rumbled out as he stood up again, taking one step forward into the forest. "I'm the one who will be doing all the walking."

Grinning a bit at his complaint, Tai settled back down on Greymon's back. "Well, I could walk as well, but we'd miss out on all the food that mom's making." Below him, he could feel Greymon stiff a bit. "And I'm sure you would love to have nice big meal after all you've done today."

Stomping off, Greymon felt Tai laugh a bit behidn him. "You're evil Tai, you know that right?" His voice showing just how hungry he was.

Giving Greymon a pat on the back, Tai looked down at him as he gave a real smile at him. "Hey, if it will make you feel better, I promise the next time you won't have to carry us all around."

Standing in the clearing, Catherine watched as Tai and Greymon left, her eyes softening up a bit as she felt Floramon plant one of her arms at her side. "You were right Floramon, he isn't so bad after all, but he still needs to do a lot of work to earn my complete trust."

* * *

Accepting the collection of data from Jun, Babel smirked in a cold way as he unfolded the lap top and began to read the data stored on it, each line making his smirk grow just a bit wider. "Good, very good." Looking up form it, he closed it and then turned to face Witchmon standing in the corner of the room with a feeling of despair to her. "It's nice to see that someone can actually do the job they were sent to do."

Slipping further into a sulking mood, Witchmon turned her head away to stare out the window and down at the city below, her eyes hardening as she saw a small group of human children walk past, each of them looking rather happy as they talked about something.

The sight of it making the magic using digimon sick to her stomach, how dared they be happy when she was just a failure to her master and creator. Twice she had failed to kill the traitor Yagami, and she still hadn't figured out why her soul and heart twisted every time she saw him.

But none of that didn't matter, soon it would all be over one way or another, and she could serve her master to all time, as she had been created to do. For it was her only reason to exist. And no matter what her heart or soul had to say about it, she wouldn't believe it.

The next time she met Taichi Yagami, she would be the winner, or die trying.

TBC: BlackWargreymon.

AN: Arukenimon's recent losses make her create a new trump card, and with his great power, she will be sure to win over the digi destined once and for all, or will she. And in the shadows, Oikawa and Babel begin to plot against each other as the location of the temple of Azulongmon is discovered and loyalties are tested.


	16. Part XVI

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Summery: AU, very AU and dark, with mentioning of torture, violence and blood drinking.

Revealing his identity to Gennai and Catherine at last, the master turned out to be Osamu Ichijoji, older brother of Ken Ichijoji, the Digimon Emperor. And with only one temple remaining to be looted and its core capture, the forces of evil are close to winning. And what is the secret of Witchmon, and how is she connected with Taichi

Special note: 'Thoughts'

* * *

Spawn of the vampire  
Blackwargreymon

* * *

Standing on a flat rocky outcropping in the middle of a medium sized mountain range, Arukenimon seethed as she once again had to accept another defeat, each one more bitter tasting then the last one. But this time there would be no defeat, for even as her anger were still burning hot, her mouth had moved into a dark smirk.

Behind her, Mummymon rubbed one bandage hand on his chin as he saw Arukenimon's smirk, his whole body tingling at the knowledge that she had already come up with another brilliant plan. "So, what is this time, another ambush?"

"No." Came the reply as Arukenimon turned to face him, her face lit up with glee as one hand ran through her hair, each of the strands reflecting the light around them. "We will face them head on, but with a monster not even they can defeat with their new fusion freak of a digimon."

Laughing the spider like digimon turned to stare out over the endless seeming field of black towers. "It will cost a lot of my pretty toys, but to see the digi destined defeated, it will be worth." Unleashing her power, she twisted until she had assumed her human form. "Come Mummymon, we must prepare for the arrival of the greatest digimon to date, after me of course."

Rolling his eyes a bit at her last comment, Mummymon began to follow after her. "So, what kind of digimon are you gong to create this time?" Not a single one of them paying any attention to the two shadows keeping an eyes on them from the top of a cliff. "Come on Arukenimon, at least give me some kind of hint."

Turning around as Mummymon began to pester the digimon in human form, the first of the shadows sighed as she lifted up a hand to her chest. "Gennai, it is as your feared, Arukenimon and Mummymon are on the move again, and this time they are going to go all out on the digi destined I fear."

"Well done Catherine." Came the reply from Gennai as a small device on her wrist began to glow. "Return to base, we have to make own plans for the coming events."

"Yes sir." As she was done replying, Catherine turned around to leave, stopping only to gaze harshly in the direction that Arukenimon had left in. "How can a digimon even wish to harm the world they're from?"

* * *

Sitting calmly in his chair, Oikawa stared across the room and right into the face of Babel as he toyed with that homemade digivice of his. "Care to explain your recent actions one more time, as I still fail to see why the sabotage of a perfect trap was needed in the first place"

Barely showing any reactions to his threat, Babel sighed a bit and turned to look out the window. "Oikawa, as I told you once, we have different goals, and while we are allies, my final objective demanded that I got my hands on that data from the fortress."

Standing up at the rather insulting tone of voice form his guest, Oikawa felt his fist clench up from his anger. "Then you could have gotten it earlier, you didn't have to wait until it became a hindrance in the plans." Getting his anger under control, Oikawa turned his back on Babel and marched over to the door. "The next trap will not require your help, or that of your servants, understood."

Simply nodding, Babel stood up as well, pocketing his digivice and giving off a simple smile. "Of course, Witchmon and Jun won't be a problem, I have given them strict orders to find the last temple." Facing the window and looking out of it, he crossed his hands on his back. "The gateway will soon be open to me again."

Not uttering single word as he stayed in the door opening, Oikawa silently went over the last sentence, one hand clenching and unclenching. "Do not forget, it is us both who will enter the digital world Osamu, not just you." Walking out of the room, he ignored the dirty look he was given by Babel. "Hiroki, I wish you could be here, to see the moment when we enter the world of our dreams, to see the place we both dreamed of visiting."

Sneering a bit as the door shut, Babel returned to his own thoughts as he settled back down in his chair, one hand reaching out for the laptop nearby while making one last check to ensure he was really alone. "Oikawa, for a human of your determination, you can really be stupid from time to time."

Hitting the on button, he silently stared as the screen buzzed for a bit before showing a small view of the digital world before him. "Jun, Witchmon, answer me!" A few seconds after his demand, the screen split to show both of his servants staring at him. "How goes the construction of my new base of operations?"

Jun giggled a bit as she stepped back, showing off a bit more of her then just her head. "It will be complete soon, Lord Babel." Turning her head to side, she grinned as she held up one hand and signaled someone of screen. "You will also be glad to hear that I have completed my own trap for the traitor, one that will shock him to the core."

"I don't care about Yagami right now." Watching as Jun shrunk back a bit from his harsh words, Babel allowed a cold smirk to fill his face as he turned to stare at Witchmon. "What I want to hear is this, how much longer until the base is ready? And if you have found the temple?"

As he finished talking, He sighed as noticed that both of them looked more nervous then they should have. "You haven't found it?" Frowning, he held up a hand in front of the screen as they both open their mouths to answer him, their nervous expression slipping into a scared one instead. "Witchmon, Motomiya, I suggest you both pick up the pace, and complete the orders I gave you, or there will be a harsh punishment for each minute I deem you both to be overdue on them."

Shutting off the link before they could reply, Babel sank down in the chair some more and sighed loudly. Good help was so hard to find, and create for that matter.

Looking off to the side, one hand clenched up as he gave a small smile into the emptiness of the room. "Soon, Gennai, very soon I shall have my revenge, and the same goes for each of the blasted soverns who dared to take away what was mine." The thought of it making the smile a bit wider as he fought back the urge to laugh manically. "I'll take everything from them, their world, their friends, and then, I'll take their life."

Lifting up his homemade digivice he stared at it as the screen flickered to life briefly, numbers floating across the screen randomly as he pushed the buttons on the device. "Just as I planned so long ago, back when I was searching for the means for my revenge."

Smirking as he grinned, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath of air. "Yes, the virus, the simple program that gave me the means for revenge, the means to carry out my vengeance. And the best part of it, is that there is no cure for it, no cure at all."

Laughter filled the room after that, a laughter that lasted several minutes and left the only other human in the building slightly unsure of why he had even considered letting a maniac like that into his home.

* * *

The air was still a bit damp and cold since the sun had only just recently risen, the feeling of approaching winter in the air making him shiver a bit as he pulled his coat in closer to his body. "Taichi, what are you doing here?" Lifting up his head at the sudden question, Tai smiled a bit as he saw a slightly familiar blond haired boy staring at him as he had stopped just outside the local park, a purple haired girl and a younger boy with a bowl cut.

Then his smile faltered a bit as he saw the uncertain looks he was given by the other two with the blond haired boy and sighed as he leaned his head back a bit and stare dup into the cloud free sky. "Nothing really, just thinking about something, not much to worry."

Snapping his gaze back to the kid, he gave a more real smile as he began to walk with the three younger ones. "You're Takeru right, the one Kari always mentions, well along with Davis that is." watching how the blond haired boy simply nodded, Tai turned his head back to look at the street ahead of them. "Look, do you think we could meet later, and talk, it would mean a lot to me."

Staring at Tai with a lightly confused expression, he cast a quick look at Yolei and Cody as they too had noticed the urgent note in Tai's voice. "Sure, but are you sure it can wait, if it is important, we can talk about it right now." Making a motion with his hand, he invited the older boy to walk with them to school.

Looking briefly at Cody and Yolei, Tai smile faltered a bit as he put a hand into each coat pocket. "No, not that I wouldn't mind talking with all of you, it's just, I would prefer it if we could talk in private." Giving a nod of apology to Yolei and Cody, he blinked as the youngest boy stiffly accepted it by a nod back at him in a very formal manner, while the simple motion only earned him a more confused stare from Yolei.

Slowing down his walk, TK cast a quick look over at Cody and Yolei. "Go on ahead, I'll catch up with you later okay." Not waiting for the reply, he turned to face Tai as they both slowed down their walking a bit more. "So what is it?"

Giving a deep sigh as he checked to see if anyone else was nearby, Tai lowered his gaze to the ground. "I need you to do me a favor." Seeing TK's gaze harden at his words, Tai bit his lip before he continued. "Look, what I want you to do, is tell me about Kari, what's she like right now, how's she been since I, since I was."

"Since you died?" TK continued in a stiff voice, one hand clenching up a bit as he didn't dare to look at the older boy, already knowing that it wouldn't help him if he faced him and saw that expression he was sure to have on his face. "Look, I don't think you should be asking me this, why don't you talk with her about it? She is your sister."

Shaking his head, Tai looked even more off to the side as he allowed his rather depressing thoughts to come out. "No, I don't think she is anymore." Ignoring the gasp from behind him, the messy haired boy stopped walking and clenched up his hands inside his coat pocket. "She's always tense around me, always smiling, and acting cheerful. It's like she afraid of letting me see the real her, the one my death helped shape her into."

Having stopped walking as well, TK cast a flat stare on the ground, knowing only how well it felt, he too had faced it four years ago, at that summer camp when he saw his brother for the first time without their parents around. And how scared he had been when he saw his brother, barely anything remaining of the friendly and happy brother he had know, instead he was acting so differently from the one he had know, refusing to have fun with the other kids and always brooding by himself whenever he talked with another kid at the camp.

Taking a deep breath, TK turned to face Tai as the messy haired teen looked at him as well. "You know, I'm not really the one you should talk too, about a year after the digital world, my mother moved away and I didn't see Kari again school started again this year."

Stuffing his own hands into his pants pockets, TK narrowed one eye as he studied the older boy before him more closely then before. "Why are you even asking me this, what brought it on?"

Letting his eyes moved over to TK, Tai didn't answered for a good while, enough to make TK look rather impatient and narrow his other eye as he began to tap one foot on the ground. "It, it happened five hours ago."

Tai lay in bed and stared up at the ceiling of his room. It was night, so most of the room was dark except for the parts that were illuminated by the nightlight. He could remember when this room was mostly his, with Kari's belongings shattered around. Now it was clearly a girl's room, all of his pervious belongings were gone.

However, he did notice a few soccer trophies on a shelf, along with a soccer ball. His team did win a few tournaments, but not as many as were up there. They must belong to Kari! Since when could she play soccer? Probably started after he was gone.

He sighed deeply and listened to the sound of his sister sleeping in the bed next to him. His parents had even gotten rid of the bunk bed, so he was sleeping on a sleeping bag. It did not even matter to him that it was Kari's old sleeping bag. Nothing of his remained.

He suddenly heard Kari start to stir. She gasped out loudly and gave a small yelp. She must have had a nightmare. He lay perfectly still, and watched, as his sister turned on the small light next to her bed. He was waiting for her to roll over and talk to him, like they used to do whenever she had a bad dream. He was confused when he heard her pick up her small cell phone and dial a number.

"Hi, Sora... Yeah... yeah, I had another bad dream... Yeah, I know, I... I just needed to talk you... Yeah, you've been a great 'older sister' to me..."

Tai felt a small part of his heart shatter. Kari had called Sora? He snuck out of the room while she had her back turned to him.

He walked into the living room and saw the pictures on the wall. Every picture taken after he had 'died,' was of his parents and Kari alone. The day she moved into junior high school, although, had a picture of all of her friends, which Sora directly behind Kari. He looked at another picture, of Kari and Sora alone on a soccer field. Both of them were wearing the local team's soccer uniforms. There was another picture of Kari and Sora, ready to head to the beach. He realized what must have happened. When he was gone for the past seven years, Sora must have taken his place; she must have become Kari's 'older sister.' She was the one that watched out for her, she was the one that taught her how to grow up, taught her everything she knows.

Lowering his head as he felt a mixture of hate, anger and despair flow through his body, Tai didn't even see the eyes staring at him as he simply left the room, one hand grabbing the coat he had been using lately, the one his father had given him to use until they got a new one for him.

Slipping on the coat and a pair of pants he had also borrowed from his father, he followed the urge to get out, to just get away form it all for now at least. The main door of the apartment closing behind him and the one place he had begun to consider his home once more.

Taking one step forward, he watched the lights from the surrounding buildings as he slowly made his way towards the buildings staircase and elevators. Already knowing that he would be spending the rest of the night just walking around,

Just staring at Tai, TK finally gave a deep sigh and shook his head a bit as he could feel sympathy for the messy haired boy's emotional stress over finding out something like that the hard way. "You know, I'm not that good at this kind of stuff, but really, does it matter if you couldn't help her with her problems in the past?"

Seeing Tai open his mouth to ask him what he meant, TK continue on with what he wanted to tell him. "Everyone changes you know, and you can't blame yourself for not seeing it seeing as you weren't there, it's possible she would still be this way even if you had been there." Noting a slightly confusion on Tai's face, TK quickly hid a small grin. "She told us you know, of what she knew had been wrong with you, why you had done what you did."

"Why?" Tai managed to mutter out as he felt a slightly stab in his heart, knowing that his sister had told others of what he had told her, and only her after his return. "I thought she wouldn't tell anyone else about my time in the digital world."

Picking up the muttered out words, TK felt like slapping himself as he groaned. Of course he would see it in the wrong way, not guessing why she had opted to share that information with them. "Look, it wasn't like that, we couldn't understand why she wanted to help you, especially after what you did to Michael and Mimi."

Hearing the names, Tai felt like he had just gotten slapped emotionally, remembering clearly just what he had done to them while holding them prisoner in his castle, no, it had been Babel's castle, he had only lived in it to be ensure it's protection against attacks, and that it was prepared for Babel's arrival. "I, I couldn't, I didn't know at the time, I, I killed him."

Quickly stopping the messy haired boy, TK sighed once again, wondering if he would be like that if he had been in Tai's position. "No, you didn't, but he's still not feeling that well, but at least he was able to return to earth again." The words having an effect on Tai that made him seem to calm down. "Listen, I really isn't the one you should talk to about this, I'm not that good at this. You want a good opinion about this stuff, you should talk to Sora, or maybe Matt, trust me, both of them know how to handle these things."

Not waiting to hear what Tai said after that, TK took off running as he waved back at him. "I'll talk with you later if you want too, but I'm late for school right now."

Just looking after the younger blond haired boy, Tai sighed and took off walking again, one hand running through his hair as he stopped outside a shop and stared at his reflection in the window. "Michael, the blond haired boy, is still alive after all I did to him?"

Lifting up his hand, he stared at it for several minutes, tracing each of the lines on the skin and the blue lines made up his arteries. "All of what I did, all those digimons, and those two, how can they even stand being around me." Walking off as he brooded on the new information he had just gotten, Tai kept looking down at the street, stopping as he reached a small computer store that was in the process of finishing their opening.

"I should... apologize to him." Lifting up his digivice, Tai felt it activate the digital gate program for him, the light switching to green as he closed his eyes. "Digi port Open!"

* * *

A somewhat weak wind blew through the digital world as Arukenimon found herself standing in a tall rock before a mountain, her finger moving slowly through the air as she used it to count the number of control towers before her, a dark grin filling her face as she stopped counting. "Yes, there is a hundred towers here, more then enough to carry out my plan."

Turning around, she stared down at the small TV set she had dragged to her current location, the image on it giving off a static buzz before changing to show the real world, or rather the inside of a computer class as a red haired boy blinked in shock over her interruption of his lesson. "Hello, Koushiro Izumi."

Mock sweetness in her mouth, Arukenimon moved back and ran a hand through her hair. "Well, before you start to ask to many questions, just know that I wanted one of your rotten brats to witness this, you just happened to get selected." At her last word, she hovered up into the air. "The birth of my perfect pawn."

Sending out a hail storm of hairs from her head, a dark laugher filled the air as each one impacted a spire perfectly, a faint glowing filling the air as each tower responded to her, all except one that had a large crack in it, barely standing up right, it only gave off a weak flash that quickly dulled into a dark blue color rather then the normal purple one the spires gave off as they transformed.

Still hovering in the air, Arukenimon focused her attention on the TV screen, and on the red haired boy's scared expression as she simply smirked at him. "Now watch, and tremble. Spirit Needle!"

At her yell, a forceful tremble ripped through the ground as each of the towers lifted up into the air, shattering into a dark colored cloud of digi dust that began to pull together rapidly, the whole time more and more towers lifted up and joined the digital dust cloud.

After what seemed like an eternity to Arukenimon, the cloud began to take on a shape, arms and legs looking as powerful as she had wanted them, the whole body giving off a dark feeling as it fully formed into a dragon man like digimon, it's eyes glowing red as it looked up while roaring out in defiance of the world it had been created in, before dulling into a sharp yellow color.

Turning back to the screen, Arukenimon lifted up her arm as she shifted into her digimon form, eyes glinting with amusement as she began to edge closer to the TV set. "Tell your friends, I expect them to show up within one hour, or I will let my new partner destroy as much of the digital world as I command."

Having finished talking, she didn't wait to get a response as power already flowed through her body, letting her fire off an attack as soon as she saw him move to answer. "Spider Tread!" The lines knocking the small TV set away from her and down into a small ravine. "One hour, and if you don't."

Behind her, still standing on the mountain top, the dragon man like digimon growled as he lifted up his hands, yellow eyes blazing as he felt confused, unsure of why he had been created in the first place, even as Arukenimon's preprogrammed command to obey her, destroy all he saw, and delete every digimon he met rose up to answer him, he still found himself wondering if that was the only reason he existed?

And if he had these feelings and doubts, didn't that mean that he wasn't just destined to obeying Arukenimon loyally, could it mean he had a different reason to live, to carry out some other great part? Could he use the great power flowing through him to a goal he wanted, rather then what she wanted?

As all of these thoughts wandered through his mind he simply continues to gaze at the world around, finally deciding that he could afford to wait a bit, think these things through and decide once he had met these digimons she had challenged if she was worthy of his time.

* * *

In another part of the digital world, Taichi Yagami popped out of a TV set, landing on his feet with the graze that only years of practice could bring, his eyes quickly moving around to scan for any dangers to his well being.

Standing up as nothing showed itself, he sighed and flinched as his hands came in contact with the cape attached to each of his shoulders. The material a constant reminder of his past, and what he had come face to face with late last night, and the depression he had been suffering form since then.

His talk with TK hadn't helped, in fact, he had only felt more rotten after getting told to either talk with the one Kari had decided to trust more then him, or the blond haired boy with either glared at him or outright avoided him at every chance he got.

Moving away from the TV set, Tai cast a quick look back over his shoulder and took in the area once more, forcing himself to fully remember the location of it, just in case he had to return in a hurry. "At least, I brought his with me." Reaching down a hand, Tai gently lifted up the crest that Kari had once given him, almost afraid of losing it, he stared at its surface as the sign on it glinted in the light.

"Courage."

Spinning around to face the one who had spoken, Tai nearly dropped down on his backside as he found himself face to face with a person he had only seen once. "You, you're." Holding a hand, Tai blinked as the elder man laughed in a carefree way. "What?"

Not answering, the man held out a hand to grasp the one Tai pointed at him with, pulling the messy haired boy up before he could even blink. "Now, as you surely remember, I am Gennai. I act as a sort of human digimon and try to protect the digital world from harm, both from the inside, and the outside."

Having gotten his heart back under control, Tai snorted a bit as he moved the cape away from his arms so they could be better crossed over his chest. "So, what do you want? Going to lecture me again on how I should control my temper and not give in to the darkness of my heart?"

Simply rising his eyebrow, Gennai slammed Tai over the head with a finger, the force of it sending Tai's head down a little bit with as he gave a slight grunt. "Kids theses days, and no, I am not here to lecture you." Turning around, Gennai looked over his shoulder at Tai as he began to walk forward. "Well, do you want to come along and hear what I have to tell you, or do you want to stay here."

Standing up, Tai looked over at Gennai as the elder man walked away, shrugging a bit before he fell into a walk right next to him. "Hey, I thought you were a kind old man who helped everyone, not one who'd beat up on defenseless kids?" Rubbing his head as he spat out the last, Tai stopped as Gennai gave him a tired look. "Uh, sorry."

Breathing out heavily, Gennai looked up at the sky above them. "No, I am sorry, my temper got the best of me, and I took it out on you." Lowering his eyes, Gennai smiled as he looked down at the lake before them. "Now then, shall we enter and continue this talk under more pleasant circumstances?"

Just nodding in reply, Tai shuddered as the lake parted before them, a staircase leading down to an old styled Japanese country house. "You know, I'm not sure how you can stand living down there, under all that water?"

"Practice boy, practice." Gennai replied with a good-natured laugh as he took the first step down the stairs, several fish swimming away from them as they walked downwards. "Bringing the crest with you was a good thing, as what I have to talk with you about will involve that."

Reaching the bottom, Gennai pushed open the door and looked over his shoulder at Tai as he stepped in. "And if you please, take your shoes and cape off, I don't want you tracking dirt and mud into my home."

Smiling a bit despite the words of the old man, Tai did remove his shoes and walked into the house, casting a lightly bored look around the place. "Say, you happen to have seen my partner anywhere, he didn't show up when I entered the digital world."

"Your partner is here." Gennai replied as she walked up to Tai, casting a look down at him. "But we have more important things to discuss then him." Pressing a single button on the tea table, Gennai watched as the room dimmed and a computer screen lit up. "Now, I did a few tests on Mimi once and determined that the virus in her was in standby mode, however, it seems that a direct exposure to the main source will re activate it, so I've been doing a few experiments to find a cure for it."

Rising an eye brown, Tai cast a deeply concentrated look on what he saw on the screen. "So, I can become fully human again? No longer hunting down digimons or humans someday just to survive?"

Nodding in response, Gennai pressed another button and held a finger into the complex diagrams and formulas. "As you can see, the virus is far more complex then some random disease, in fact, it looks so complex, I would almost say it was a digimon's basic program code having been made to work with a human body in its organic state outside of the digital world."

Running the words through his mind to make sense of them, Tai gave a deep humming sound as he at least got a basic idea of it. "So, what you're saying is that I might have a digimons code in my blood." Tai nearly yelled out the last part as he cast a demanding glare at Gennai, nearly knocking over the table to get closer to him as a feeling of raw panic filled him. "But how."

Snapping hand out and hitting Tai over the head, Gennai looked down at him, as the young boy was busy rubbing his head. "I said it look like a digimon's code, I didn't say it was a digimon." Couching gently to get back on track without any other interruptions from the messy haired boy Gennai smiled at him. "Anyway, I am working on finding a way to protect both digimons and humans alike from this virus."

Pushing another button, Gennai stared as the screen image changed to a map of File Island. "And the best way to combat a disease is to prevent it from striking someone in the first place." Turning to face Tai, Gennai smacked one finger at the map and grinned at Tai. "Therefore, I am proud to say that I have finally unlocked the where about of the final temple, where the digi core of Azulongmon resides."

Not answering right away, Tai just blinked a single time before standing up. "You know where it is, but how?" Turning to face Gennai, Tai narrowed his eyes as she clenched up one hand. "Never mind it, as long as getting that digi core will slow down Babel, I'm willing to allow it to be removed."

Turning halfway around, Tai stopped and looked over at Gennai who seemed to be about to say something. "Look, I know this is important and all, but I did come here for a different reason. Though it seems it will have to wait until this whole mess is over with now."

Nodding at the words, Gennai sat down at the table, one hand patting it gently. "Come, sit down, tell me about it. I may not be the one you want to talk to it about, but I might be able to offer you some advice." Coughing as he finished talking, he gave a small smile at Tai.

* * *

"Tai asked you about what!"

TK winched as bit as he stepped back out of Kari's range, the girl's voice still running in his ears as she had given him her full attention, the light brown eyes demanding him silently that he tell her everything. "Well, he wanted to talk to me about you, how you had been these last four years?"

Frowning as she ignored the fact that the other in the classroom were looking at her, Kari stared hard at TK. "But why would he do that, what could." Then she froze as her mind brought up a small incident that could have triggered it, as well as the lack of her brother in the apartment that morning. "Oh no."

Opening his mouth to ask her what she meant, TK closed it as he saw her rush out of the room, nearly knocking the teacher over in her haste to leave. "Kari!"

Standing up to leave as well, he froze as he saw the very angry look on the teachers face, clearly he did not want a repeat of what had happened the last time Kari had caused him to at strangely.

Outside the classroom, Kari kept moving towards one of the few places she knew she could be in peace, a place where she could figure out what to do about this new event with her brother.

She wanted to have the same close brother and sister relationship back that they once shared, but it had become a habit for her now to seek out the comfort of the one who helped her through the period of grief and morning after Tai's death. And last night, all she had been able to do after that nightmare, was go to her.

But it hadn't been right, he had been there, she should have remembered that he wasn't dead, that he was sleeping on the floor and would have heard her. She should have remembered it.

Slamming her right hand down on the bench as she settled down on it, she leaned back her head and gave a deep sigh of tiredness and regret.

"You okay Kari?" Gatomon's concerned voice came through the cloud of dark thoughts, succeeding on making Kari open her eyes and stare into Gatomon's blue ones as the feline digimon looked at her from the back of the bench. "Still concerned about your brother?"

Halfway closing her eyes, Kari nodded, as she still wasn't sure how to respond or speak of what was going through her heart at the moment. "I'm, just confused, and sorrow for what I did last night."

Tails stiffing a bit, Gatomon stared at Kari a bit hard. "You did nothing wrong, you did what you are used to, it takes time to break a habit." Holding up a clawed glove at Kari, she gave a rare smile at her. "Besides, you still haven't talked with him have you? He's not the same brother you once knew, he's changed as well, so before you blame yourself for failing you brother and sister relationship, try and get to know him again."

Smiling weakly, Kari nodded as she stood up, ready to on and find her brother, and at least hear his side of the story, she could do that before telling him what she had gone through since he had been though to be have been dead. She also needed to know what he had been doing for those four years, now matter how cruel and evil it was.

Next to her, Gatomon's ears shot up as the sound of feet hitting the pavement was heard by her, the feline digimon turning and rushing into a nearby shrubbery to hide just in case it wasn't one of the other chosen children.

Running past the corner, Davis stopped and looked over at Kari, an urgent look of hurry in his eyes as she quickly changed directions and rushed up to her. "What are you doing here, didn't you get Izzy's mail?"

Staring confused at the huffing Davis, Kari blushed as she quickly pulled out her D-terminal and looked at it. "Sorry Davis, I forgot to turn it on when I left this morning, must have been all that stuff I had on my mind." Switching it on, Kari stared at the number of messages rolling a cross the screen. "Okay, here it is."

Turning to face Gatomon as she emerged from the shrubbery, she looked up at Davis with a determined look. "Arukenimon again?"

Face growing a bit dark, the young messy haired boy nodded at the feline. "And some other digimon as well, Izzy said we should be extra careful with this one, and that he going to arrange some kind of surprise for her."

Closing her D-terminal, Kari held up a clenched hand in front of her. "Okay, let's go then, the sooner we beat this digimon, the sooner I can talk with Tai."

Watching her run past him, Davis rubbed a hand through his hair, wondering just what was going on with Kari. Then he shook it off and followed after her, wanting to get into the digital world and see what kind of digimon Arukenimon had made this time.

And of course, to see if his sister was there, He still needed to try and get through to her one more time.

* * *

Sighing loudly, Arukenimon glared down at the small, cheap wristwatch she had strapped to her arm, one eye having a heavy tick to it as she once more cursed under her breath. "Where are those brats, they should have been here long ago, doesn't anyone take their jobs seriously anymore?"

Her answer came the form of a foot slamming into her face from the side, the force of it sending her flying backwards to land in a undignified heap before Blackwargreymon.

Looking up as her extra legs helped her back into a standing position faster then they should have been able too, she glared at the digimon hovering in the air before her, several others rushing towards him as well. "Paildramon, how nice to see you, I hope your feeling rather bad today."

Lifting up his arms as the two stingers on them shot out, the fused digimon narrowed his eyes as he focused on Arukenimon with a calm look. "At least I'm not feeling as bad as you look, and just so you know, it took a while for us to get here since we wanted to get some help!"

Snapping her head around, Arukenimon cursed as she saw just what he had meant by that as several more digimons then she was used to facing showed up. "The old timers?" Her voice a bit meek sounding as she could clearly see Garurumon, Birdramon, Ikkakumon, Kabuterimon, Angemon, Nefertimon, Aquilamon and Ankylomon.

Shaking off the momentary fear that had gripped, Arukenimon giggled as she rose up her arms, watching as the shadow of her new digimon fell over the battlefield. "Impressive collection of losers you brought with you, but against my creation, it won't matter how many friends you bring with you."

Snapping her finger, the spider like digimon allowed a grin to fill her face as her new digimon warrior jumped over her to land in front of her, those yellow eyes of his burning with bloodlust as he wasted no time in lashing out at Paildramon with his a right hook. "Yes, kill them all, Blackwargreymon!"

Almost as if answering her call, Blackwargreymon shot up into the air, his hands held together over his head as a dark red sphere formed between his gauntlets. "Terror!"

Narrowing her eyes behind her mask, Nefertimon shot forward through the air, her power rising up to help her in fighting off this dark digimon. "Come on, we got to help them!"

Her words reaching the other digimons who had all began to move forward, each of them powering up an attack to be used on the dark digimon who switched from aiming at Paildramon, to aiming at them in less then a second. "Destroyer!"

Rolling to the side in mid air, Nefertimon stared in horror as the attack hammered into her digimon allies; the ground locked ones barely escaping the sheer explosion ripped up by the attacks force. "What strength." Then she blinked as a black blur rushed past her, a faint glint filling the air before she screamed in sheer agony, her armor cracking from where Blackwargreymon had ripped his claws across her.

Looking up in shock, Ikkakumon could only mutter out a curse as the black blue began to right towards him, before he powered up his favorite attack in his champion form. "Harpoon Torpedo!" Several missiles like torpedo's firing off from his head and heading right down towards Blackwargreymon.

Glancing up to see the attack, Blackwargreymon stopped moving and simply held up his arms to shield himself with, letting each of the missiles hit him right on, and growling as no pain could be felt. "Weak, so very weak." Uttering out the words like a curse, he shot around and swatted Garurumon backwards casually, grabbing Birddramon with his other hand at the same time, letting a small smile fill his face as he used the orange bird dragon like digimon as a living missile to send Garurumon flying even further back the way he had come from.

Turning back to Ikkakumon, the dark dragon man like digimon snorted as yet another round of weakling rushed at him, Angemon and Ankylomon double-teaming him as well. "Is there no one worthy of my time." Muttering out the words as he dodged the beam of light and tail hammer attack, he held his hands together in front of him. "Black Tornado!"

Ripping forward, he noted that while he only brushed past the digimons only giving them several surface cuts, they still fall back as if he had hit them right on. The sight only making him more convinced that they were simply a waste of his time and therefore not what he had expected to be created to fight.

Aiming upwards while still spinning around, he flew right through the electric attack from Kabuterimon, this one at least giving him a small tingling in his arms as they took the full attack head on, but it was still not enough to even concern him more then a second. "She really needs me to fight such weaklings?"

Roaring out in pain even as Blackwargreymon continued to talk with himself in what could only be described as a whisper, the badly cut Kabuterimon fell from the sky, crashing into Ikkakumon harshly. "Arukenimon, she do not deserve my help, I see that now." Turning around to face the spider like digimon, the dark dragon man like digimon found himself hit head on by an attack from Paildramon, an attack didn't even dent his armor. "Worthless."

Batting him out of the sky, Blackwargreymon added injury to insult as he stepped on Paildramon's head in order to launch himself further up into the sky above them. "Terra Destroyer!" The sphere of dark red energy ripping into the ground once more, sending digimons flying in several directions along with a good deal of dirt.

Up on a hill, the digi destined, or rather the newer ones, gasped as they could see everything from their vantage point, some of them feeling more then glad that they had been convinced to stay here where they were safe. But no matter how safe it was, it was still hard to watch their partners and friends get beaten around like that while they were hiding in a safe spot.

"We have to help them." Yolei spoke out the thought they all shared as she saw Paildramon take yet another beating, this time getting kicked in the stomach with enough force to make him stop advancing. "Kari, TK, Ken Cody, Davis, doesn't anyone of you have a plan?"

Shaking her head sadly, Kari bit her lip as she saw Nefertimon struggle to get back onto her feet, the once polished and beautiful body armor on her digimon partner now looked like it could fall apart at any second. "No, please don't" Standing up, Kari felt the memories of the past rush through her.

Losing her brother and the death of Wizardmon, both of who had been at the hands of one of their worst enemies. And now, her best friend would end up like them if she continued to fight. "Gatomon!" Screaming out the name, she gasped in horror as Nefertimon gave a sudden start, her armor cracking completely as streams of light shot out from her body.

As the light faded away, a smaller white feline digimon stared at her front paws in shock as she tried to figure out why she had de-digivolved back into that from, despite having felt that enough energy was left in her body to try another attack before it should have happened.

Turning her head slowly to see her partner standing up from the hiding spot, Gatomon felt the reason for her sudden return to her weaker form clearly. "Kari, no, don't lose your light now!" Looking back, she gasped as Aquilamon impacted the ground harshly right next to her, the biff type digimon looking more worse then she could remember him ever looking.

Snapping back around as she heard Paildramon roar out, she stared as she saw the only ultimate level digimon on their team at the moment lift up his machine guns. "Yes, destroy him Paildramon, crush that fake digimon!" Yelling out her cheer first, Gatomon then turned around and rushed over to check on Aquilamon who still hadn't made a move yet.

As if having heard Gatomon's cheer for him, the fused digimon poured everything he had into the attack, letting lose with several high-powered shots that ripped into Blackwargreymon and the ground itself, dirt flying up from the sheer force of each impact.

Stopping the attack several seconds later, he smirked as he saw nothing but a large dust cloud where Blackwargreymon had been just a few seconds before. "We got him!" Yelling out the words, he allowed himself to relax as the thought of having won rushed through him

Then it was lost as a black colored arm covered by a clawed gauntlet whipped away the dust cloud, letting the upper part of Blackwargreymon become visible again, the fake digimon not saying anything as he lowered his arm down to his side and simply scanned the battle field, taking in the state of the digimon either knocked out or moving in to attack again.

Returning back to see Paildramon rush at him with the glowing hand spikes out again, the dark digimon quickly slammed his arms out, blocking the attack and looking right into the eyes of the attacking digimon, letting his disgust at fighting such weak enemies take over. "You two are worthless." Spitting out two words, he used their distracting of getting spoken to by him to throw them down onto the ground. "You are all worthless, is there no one in your group worthy enough for me to fight against?"

Pushing himself up, Paildramon blinked his eyes as he took in the angry, nearly closed into slits eyes of Blackwargreymon as he looked back at him. "You can talk?" HIS surprise coming from the fact that none of the other creations of Arukenimon had even bothered to utter more then an attack phrase at them when they had battled.

Giving a sound of anger and annoyance, Blackwargreymon small growled turned into a scream of utter rage as his whole lit up with pure power that shot out over the battle field, the force of it smashing into Paildramon, then the few advancing digimons before washing over Gatomon and Aquilamon and hammering into the digi destined hiding place.

As it died out, Blackwargreymon just looked down at the two puny digimons before him, his eyes still narrowed as he kept watching their beaten moans of pain. The thought of how easy it would be to just lash out and kill them running through his mind, along with feeling of disgust at having been made just to fight someone so weak, and to think that his creator hadn't even been able to do it on her own.

Even with those dark thoughts running through his mind, he still picked up the sound of Arukenimon moving towards him, her laughter filling the air as she stopped just short of passing by him. "Well done indeed Blackwargreymon, now finish them all off."

Her shrill voice making his head hurt as he just kept on gazing down at the digimons before him. A new even more puzzled and strange though forming in his head, would they become stronger if he gave them time, would they become someone he could fight against without feeling like a bully,

Allowing a smirk to form, Blackwargreymon turned around and took a step forward, the decision having already been made even before he had thought about it. They were not worth his time and energy in a fight, but someone had to be, and while he looked for that digimon, it wouldn't hurt if these digimons got strong enough to earn the right to a fight with him, if they failed to live up to what he expected from them, well, he could always finish what he had started.

Sadly, someone else had another idea about that, As Arukenimon hissed out in anger and moved to block his retreat. "Where do you think you're going?" Pointing her arm at the digimons still whimpering over their defeat, Arukenimon's eyes almost glowed, as she got no response from her creation. "I gave you an order Blackwargreymon, finish them off now!"

Moving his attention to her fully, Blackwargreymon felt another wave of disgust rush through him, the sickness caused at the fact that this weak worthless digimon had been the one to create him, was beginning to leave him with a bad taste in his mouth. "I will take orders from no one, why should I do what you say, when you're so weak, you need me to do your fighting for you?"

Mouth nearly hanging open at her creation's outright refusal and insult at her, she felt her blood reach boiling point as her arms snapped up into righting position. "You will do as I say, you are my creation and I will not tolerate this king of disobedience!"

Lashing out in anger as well and sending Arukenimon flying backwards into a distant sand dune with a scream of raw pain from her, Blackwargreymon would have grinned if he didn't suffer from having to deal with such worthless digimons for so long.

Looking up the sky, Blackwargreymon lifted up his arms in front of him, feeling a new determination wash through his body as he began to hover up into the air. "Such weaklings, it is clear now, that I must find someone more worthy for me to fight with."

Flying off, he ignored the sight of digimons and humans staring after him as he increased his flight speed, rapidly leaving the battlefield behind in his hunt for a more worthy opponent to fight.

* * *

Arriving back in Odaiba, Tai blinked as he found himself standing in the middle of LAN gaming center, several younger and older kids and even an adult or two were staring at him with shock all over their faces. "Great, just great." Muttering out the words, Tai moved quickly and ducked out the first door he found, taking a deep breath as he found himself in the entrance hall.

Walking past a puzzled attendant and a few other kids, Tai stuffed his hands into his coat and entered the outside, a puff of chilly air hitting him as he did his best to avoid looking at the more shady characters hanging around outside the LAN gaming center.

Moving out on the nearby main street, Tai cast a look around and nodded, as he was able to notice several places that looked familiar to him. "Okay, better get home." Yawning a bit as he stopped talking, Tai began to move towards the apartment complex, his pace a bit faster then normal.

Looking over at Tai, Gennai folded his hands on the table as he nodded a bit to himself, almost looking like he was discussing something with himself. "Tai, if I can call you that." Gennai gave a smile as he saw Tai relax at the attempt at friendliness. "Seeking to redeem yourself and apologize to those you have hurt are a good thing, and in regards to the problem you have with your sister, I would suggest talking with her."

Seeing Tai about to say something, Gennai silence him with a look. "From what you told me, you two haven't really talked since your return, and as such, none of you are really sure how to act around the other." Smiling slightly sadly at Tai, Gennai stood up and walked over to look out at the fish swimming past the window. "Talk with her Tai, listen to what she has to say and then tell her your side of it, let her know that you want her to be your sister again."

Entering in through the main door, Tai stood completely still as he was met by a silent and dark apartment, a silence as thick as it had been when he had left it to think. no one wa sthere to greet him or scold him for returning so late.

The only one who seemed to notice him was the family cat, and she only gave him a passing glance from her cat bed before returning to her sleep.

The living room was just as dark and lonely as the rest of the apartment, the soccer trophies still drawing his attention as he went over each one. This time seeing Kari's name on the small plate beneath each of them, each one a small sign of how good she had become at it.

Falling back onto the couch, he stared into the darkness of the apartment. For the first time, he realized how much his family must have moved on after his 'death.' His parents focused everything on Kari, that's why she played soccer; he always loved soccer so she must have started playing to fill that 'hole." Sora became Kari's older sibling; she did everything he should have done during the past seven years. He suddenly felt very guilty. They must have moved on and put his 'death' behind them, and now he came back. He thought he was confused, how were they feeling?

"Tai?"

He looked up and saw Kari standing in the doorway to her room. "I... I didn't want to wake you."

She walked over and sat next to him. "I guess you heard me call Sora, right?"

He nodded slowly. "Yeah."

She stared forward. "Do you know what bad dream I had?"

He shook his head. "No."

"It was a dream of you dying again."

He was speechless. "I... I...I..."

"You don't know how much I cried when you were gone. I missed you every day since then. I would sometimes stay up late at night and wish with all my heart that you would come back. After a while I stopped, but I always did hope." She turned to him, "Please don't go."

"H... how did you know...?"

She shrugged. "Call it intuition, but I don't want you to leave. You're my older brother, and you'll always be."

The two reunited siblings hugged each other.

TBC: The Final Temple Part 1

AN: A great thanks goes out to Fruitloop Trooper for letting me use some of his writing for the flashback, and the ending part where Tai and Kari begins to become more like the brother and sister they were in the past.

And as for Blackwargreymon, while he may have seemed like a minor character in a chapter that has his name for a title, he will play a bigger part in future chapters, but first, I will deal with the final temple parts, and then begin to move towards the final arc.


	17. Part XVII

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Summery: AU, very AU and dark, with mentioning of torture, violence and blood drinking.

Revealing his identity to Gennai and Catherine at last, the master turned out to be Osamu Ichijori, Older brother of Ken Ichijoji, the Digimon Emperor. And with only one temple remaining to be looted and its core capture, the forces of evil are close to winning. And what is the secret of Witchmon, and just how is she connected with Taichi

Special note: 'Thoughts'

* * *

Spawn of the vampire  
The Final Temple Part 1

* * *

The forest were deadly silent as the few digimons still alive in it watched fearfully from their hiding places as the new top mon in the area walked past the trees, the faint morning light glinting off the wicked looking claws on his gauntlets as they were held in an attack ready position at all times.

Slowing down to a halt, Blackwargreymon gazed up at a tree as the sound of a digimon shaking in fear reached him. And it repulsed him deeply to hear it, for it spoke of nothing but pure weakness for any digimon to be hiding in a tree like some low bred baby level digimon.

Letting go of the angry emotions, Blackwargreymon took another step forward, the darkness cast by the trees quickly swallowing him up, and allowing the digimon hiding to relax as deletion had been avoided for yet another day.

* * *

Walking out of her bedroom, Mrs. Yagami yawned as she wrapped her arms around her, the chilliness in the air making her shiver after having been forced to leave her bed by the needs of nature. But such things were rapidly forgotten as she passed the living room couch, and her two children sleeping peacefully on it.

Staring at them, she sighed at the protective way that Tai had his arm wrapped around Kari. The whole thing making her cringe with remembered days of the past, and emotions she thought she had put behind her, along with pain of losing her first born child to some other worldly monster.

And then as she had finally gotten her life back under control and felt she could face the world as a normal parent again, it all came back once more, the monsters, her son, and the fear of losing him again, and her daughter to another monster from that world.

Wishing that she could stare at it for a longer time, she was forced to forget about it as nature took that time to remind of why she had gotten up in the first place. And as she left, she could pick up the sound of her son and daughter responding the movement and sounds she made walking across the floor.

The simple knowledge of it making her smile, and hope that when things quieted down again, it wouldn't just be another one of those dreams she had had so many times.

But that once more, her family was once more complete and well, instead of finding herself facing a world where she was missing an important part of her life.

* * *

Across town, waking up was less dramatic, but still enough of a hassle to make Jun grumble as the sound of Mummymon working in the kitchen reached her, along with the loud screeching demands for him to quiet down by Arukenimon, finally completed by Oikawa telling them to shut up or else.

Blinking her eyes as she rolled over in her bed, she stared at the clock placed on the table, it's green glowing numbers telling her that she was getting up even earlier then she had ever wanted too in hr life. "This is the glamorous life of a villain and world conquer?"

Muttering out the question, she nimbly danced across the ice cold floor and grabbed her clothes, pulling them on as fast as she could as the air was about as cold as the floor. "Would it kill them to use just a bit more heat in this part of the house?"

Pushing open the door, the messy haired girl grabbed a towel and her hair brush from a small cabinet next to her door, her eyes half closing as she walked towards the bathroom, her whole mind hoping that a bath would help her wake up some more and prepare her to face another day either plotting or attacking her brother and his friends, or maybe she would get a chance to attack that bastard Yagami for costing her so much in reputation and standings with the master.

Well, one could hope, but deep down she knew that she had been pulled off the job forever, the mission of crushing Tai and the pink haired brat belonging to their newest member, Witchmon.

The very same perky yet also moody digimon whom had just entered the bathroom before her, snapping her eyes fully open as that fact ran thought her mind again, Jun roared out in rage as her fist smashed into the doors framework at full force. "Witchmon, get you lazy bum out of there right now, the bathroom is mine, I got here first!"

"No you didn't." Came the tell tale voice of the witch like digimon through the door as well as the sound of rushing water. "All you were doing was walking towards it, so it's not my fault you're too slow to reach the bathroom first." Whatever else that Witchmon could have said was drowned out by the sound of her starting to take a bath.

Shimmering in rage Jun settled in to wait for her turn under the shower, until she noticed a looming presence right behind her. "Master Babel, what are you doing here?"

Sparing her a glance, Babel grunted a bit as he slung a towel over his shoulder as well as lift up a hairbrush of his own in a lazy fashion. "Why Jun my dear, I am going to take a bath as well, right after Witchmon is finished of course." The last part added with an icy tone as he looked at her.

Smiling in fear, Jun quickly nodded at the hidden demand, order and treat he had just thrown at her in one sentence, and resigned herself to be number two in line for the bathroom, a place she now cursed more then ever. For there sure as heck wasn't anyway this life could be what she had agreed to when she gave up her human life for power and glory.

Getting relegated to number two again, despite having proven that Yagami was a traitor, and being the longest running supporter of the masters plans, she was once more number two in line for the rewards promised.

And with that revelation, came another one. She hated Witchmon about as much as she hated Yagami.

* * *

On the other side of the world, or a good deal close to it, Mimi yawned as she finished checking her E-mail, part of her smiling at the though of having a long weekend approaching, a whole four days that she could spend with Tai and the others either in Odaiba, or the digital world.

Most likely it would have to be the latter, as the thought of getting dragged into a battle every time she tried to the enter the digital world had crossed her mind since the battle with Witchmon.

But no longer could even that hold her off, she wanted to return to the digital world, if only to meet all her friends again. And this time she would bring along some food for a picnic, and maybe get to spend some more time with Tai and try and get to know him even more.

Smiling as she watched the computer shut down, Mimi turned her head and stared out the window as another thought crossed her mind. "I wonder how Michael's doing, I haven't heard form him lately." Tapping a finger on the armrest of her chair, she finally stood up and reached for her cell phone, already punching in the familiar number. "Come on Michael, please be at home."

Holding the phone up to her ear, Mimi grunted as she got four call tones and then nothing except the message company asking her to leave a small message for him. "Hey Michael, it's Mimi, yeah I know, you might not want to talk with me after what happened, but please, I just want to know how you're doing, and well, you know, Taichi will be there at the picnic, he really wants to see you, to apologize for, you know. So if you would please show up, both he and I would be very happy for it"

Turning off the phone after leaving the message, the pink loving girl settled down on her bed and sighed loudly, wondering if it was destiny for one part of her life to always be messed up in some way or another? "Hmm, wonder if I should bring along extra food, all of them are likely to show up, and with both Tai and Davis." Giggling a bit, Mimi rolled onto her back and smiled up at her ceiling. "Hmm, I can hardly wait until tomorrow."

* * *

But unlike the happy Mimi, the blond haired boy know as Michael glared at his cell phone with pure hate as it finished replaying the message she had left on it, one leg drawn in close to him as he kept dragging his fingers across his bed sheet. "She sided with him, despite seeing and hearing what he did to bot hme and her, she sided with him."

The voice was just as cold as his heart had grown since his return, the other tracing a small scar on the left side of his face slowly. "That bastard, he did this to me, and she just ups and forgive him." Clenching up both hands at the thought of what he had been through, a dark smile cracked across his face. "But I'll get them, both of them, I'll show him that I am stronger then he thought."

Pushing off form the bed, he grinned even more darkly as he looked out at the city below him. "I had to wait until I had healed completely, but now, I am ready." Placing both hands on the window still and leaning forward to stare out at the dark city below him, Michael giggled a bit as he glanced down at the digivice before him. "Yes, I am ready, for revenge."

In the background, a small laugh could be heard as the outline of a small digimon became clear, his face twisting with delight at his words. "And master Babel sends you his best wishes, he hopes that together, you and he will succeed in bringing an end to the monster that is Taichi Yagami."

Smirking as well at his words, Michael simply nodded at first in response to the words, one hand curling up in the window still. "We will, I will make Taichi pay for both me, Betamon and everyone else that had to suffer at his hands, that I swear."

Not giving off a single sound, Penmon just watched the human before him, a large amount disgust welling up at the simple way he had all but thrown himself at the ground on worship when he had been told that he could get the help he needed to get his revenge.

But this wasn't the time to le this emotions run off with him, that was for later when he was alone and could lash out at having gotten the gig of babysitting the number two human that his master and creator had recruited for the coming age of darkness. "The gateway to the digital world will be hard to control, but if all goes the way it is meant to, the one who betrayed you should end up getting sent to the location chosen for your showdown."

"And I'll be waiting for her." Michael spat out as he settled down to wait, eyes staring out the window, a small smile creeping up over his face as the thought of revenge filled him with a nice warm feeling.

* * *

The room was silent, fat to silent for his liking Tai decided as he settled down in one end of the room, Kari sitting down a bit away form along with Yolei and Davis besides her, a bit smile one her face as she looked at the other sin the room as they turned to her for an answer as to why she had brought Tai along with her to one of their meetings all of sudden.

"Everyone." Kari Started gently as she nodded at them, hoping more then she had ever hoped for anything that they would accept her brother into the group, that they would be able to accept him as they had begun to accept Ken, and maybe even allow him to become a part of the group, despite the past. "Most of you barely know him, but this is my brother Tai, and well, I decided that it was time he met you guys, again in some cases."

At her words, Sora simply gave an almost shy smile at her before facing Tai again, comparing this new older version of him with the younger one she had know years ago now that she had a chance, remembering every other time they had needed to get information form him, it had either been through Kari or Mimi.

Sitting a bit uncomfortable due to all the eyes looking at him, Tai cast a look over at his sister, silently pleading for her help in this matter, hoping that she would be able to lend him some much needed strength for this matter. Getting a confident smile back from her, Tai sighed and turned back to the group. "Uh, hi."

The only time they had really seen him had been after he had returned to earth, and when one of them had been over at Kari's apartment to talk with her. "It's nice to see you again Tai, and you still got that puffy bird's nest like hair style I remember so well."

Laughing lightly, but still uncomfortably at Sora's attempt at a joke, most of the group quickly refocused on Tai, the sound of a clock ticking making the feeling of tenseness grow. "So, you were controlled by evil, like Ken?" The long break finally getting broken by Davis, as he simply couldn't stand it any longer. "Sorry to hear that buddy, hope you aren't beating yourself up over it."

Focusing his gaze on Davis, Tai doubled blinked as he found himself almost seeing a younger version of himself in the boy as he got a good hard look at him. "You're Davis right?" The question coming as he had been told a few times, okay more then a few times by Kari of this boy who were almost like him when he was younger. "Sorry about that, I was just, never mind it. It's nice to meet all of you, I am Taichi Yagami, Tai among friends."

Giving a lightly confused look at first, a hostile one form a small part of the group, Davis once more broke the silence as he grinned hard and grabbed Tai's hand as he was still waving it in a small friendly gesture. "Same here Tai, name Davis, but you already know that right." Turning to the rest of the group, he ignored the lightly annoyed gazes from Yolei, Cody and Matt as they looked at him. "The purple haired girl with the attitude problem is Yolei, the small and serious one is Cody, and that's TK over there with the bucker for a hat."

The last comment earning him a mock glare from TK, the blond haired boy gave a sarcastic laugh as well before nodding friendly at Tai. "Right, Davis, why don't you let me finish the introduction before you annoy anymore." The last added in with a wave at Yolei who were fuming at Davis from her place. "Besides, I think he knows most of us right?"

Moving his attention over at TK, Tai gave his best smile at the young blond haired boy. "It's alright, TK, it has been four years since I last saw some of you, so I don't mind getting an introduction to them, makes it less likely that I will make an mistake."

"Save the introductions for later." Matt's voice cut through the room with as much warmth to it as a glazier had. "I think it's high time we got down to the real reason we're here, Arukenimon, Mummymon and Blackwargreymon."

Coughing a bit gently, Kari called their attention over to her again, a slight apologetic smile on her face as she avoided looking directly as Matt. "Actually Matt, I already made an arrangement with someone today about something that I kind of hope we could all do today."

Eyes narrowed in suspicion, Matt found himself moving his glare over at Taichi for a second, wondering if it was this messy haired boy's fault that his old rule as digi destined leader was getting challenged all the time. "And what exactly is this arrangement?"

"Well." Kari began saying, already knowing that older, blond haired boy wasn't going to like what she was about to say.

* * *

"You lost him?" Oikawa hissed out the words as his glare intensified to a point where it could have melt glass if it was possible, but while it couldn't do that, it was more then able to make Arukenimon whimper in fear as she backed away from the angry human, her mind somehow telling her that even if she was a digimon with lots and lots of power, this human would delete her without problems if he wanted to.

Stammering while trying to come up with a good enough reason for her failure, Arukenimon cast a desperate look over at Mummymon, the bandage digimon shrugging right back at her. "Well, it wasn't really my fault, somehow he gained a will of his own and decided that he didn't..."

Trailing off, she stopped talking as Oikawa's face come within a centimeter of her own face, those dark circled eyes drilling straight through her small sunglasses and right into her eyes. You will listen to me Arukenimon, and you will listen good, I want him back, Blackwargreymon's power is something I do not want to be lost, got it."

Turning his back on her, he still managed to give off the impressive aura and feel of having complete control and power over the discussion, that what he wanted, what was he would get. "He single handedly defeated these so called second generation digi destined in battle, the least he could have done was finish the battle completely and kill them."

Snapping back around to face her before she could talk, Oikawa loomed over Arukenimon once more, both hands clenched up and shaking with anger. "Do you think you can do that Arukenimon, cause if you can't, It won't be too hard for me to replace you, I can assure you of that."

Turning his glare over at Mummymon, he snorted a bit and turned to leave, halting as he had his hand around the door handle. "One other thing, I want you to keep an eye on someone for me Mummymon, I have a feeling that our current alliance with Babel is going sour, and that he no longer intends to over hold his side of the agreement we made, your job is to follow him, and make sure he doe snot double cross me in anyway."

Ripping the door open, he stopped as he felt Mummymon move towards him. "And one other thing, I won't be back until later this evening, I have an old friend to visit and I do not wish to be disturbed in anyway." Slamming the door behind him, he walked past Jun staring out the window with a hateful expression, the feeling o fit making him stop to stare at her. "Feeling down about something girl?"

Looking over her shoulder at the creepy old man she had found herself forced to hang around with lately, Jun snorted and turned back to face the window again. "You wouldn't understand it, so stay out of it." Snapping out each word, she didn't really care how they came off as long as they got him to back off.

Eyes dimming to a darker color, Oikawa breathed out harshly as he gave his best superior smirk at Jun's back, one hand flexing as if he wanted to reach out and snap her neck as payback for insulting him. "Trust me child, I know more about dark emotions then others, and I sense a deep hatred from you, hate at your master's new pet."

Leaning in close, he allowed a small laugh to escape from his mouth as he saw her reflex flinch from his closeness, the new feeling of fear coming from her along with the hatred making him grin. "Don't try to overshadow her, it's a waste of time and effort."

Watching as her eyes began to tear up at his harsh words and downgrading of her skills, Oikawa drew back and snapped around to leave the room. "Only a fool tries to overshadow those who are in the way, the smart ones remove them, completely, if I had been you, my rival would have long ago suffered from a knife in the back."

Leaving without watching her reaction, Oikawa briskly walked around a corner, and faltered as his eyes returned to their normal appearance, a slight confusion visible for a few seconds before he shook his head and marched off, not giving a care over why he had missed noticing that he had already walked this far.

But inside of him, a dark being laughed at the small suggestion he had given, a small one eyes, but one sure to cause great trouble in Babel's little company, leaving him free to reap all rewards when the time came. For neither Oikawa nor Babel would ever enter the digital world, it was to be his along with the real one, only his, and no one would stop him this time around, no one.

* * *

"A picnic!" Matt's voice rang out through the air as he glared over at Kari smiling at him. "But what about the digital world, Arukenimon, Mummymon, Blackwargreymon, heck even that Babel guy Yagami keep mentioning, we should be out stopping them, not sitting around relaxing"

Getting a frown on her face at Matt's tone, Kari crossed her arms as she returned the glare she had received from him with the same level of content. "We need this Matt, we've been fighting or cleaning up the digital world non stop since Ken became good, and even you need a break."

Not letting go of his annoyance over it, Matt snorted a bit as he backed off as Sora stared at him as well with a halfway pleading look. "Fine, but don't blame me if something happens."

Smiling as soon as Matt back off, Kari grinned lightly as she turned to face the computer. "Come on Matt, at least try to relax, I'm sure nothing grand is going to happen today."

* * *

Glaring around at the group sitting around the table, Babel noted that Jun, Witchmon and Penmon were staring at him with their full attention. "Good, this is the plan for today." Turning his laptop around to make it face them, Babel punched in the command for the digital map to show up. "After a long and hard search, I have found the final temple's true location."

Turning it back to face him, he sighed as he sat down in his own chair, making sure that they were completely alone in the park corner he had chosen for the meeting. "This mission is of the most vital matter, I must have that digi core to break down the final part of the barrier."

Leveling a dark glare at the three as he stopped speaking, Babel drew one finger across the table. "And that means the matter won't be left up to any of you, instead, I will leave it in the hands of my newly created forces." Tapping a finger on the laptop, four images showed on it. "One of them will be sent to assist you in an ambush, while the rest will go after the temple."

Closing the laptop and making sure it was turned off, Babel lifted up his head to stare at each of them. "Now, do any of you have any questions?" His voice leaving no doubt that he wouldn't be very happy if they didn't at least understand that he had lost most of his patience with them.

When no one was asked, he nodded and looked down at his hands while going over a few last minute details of the plan in his mind. "I have learned, by spying on the Yagami brat's e-mail account, that they will be having a picnic today, and that will your chance."

Leveling a finger on the witch like digimon, Babel reached into his pocket and pulled out a small device looking rather much like a small digivice with his free hand. "You will go after the traitor Yagami Witchmon, and with this you will be able to digivolve to your next level, so use it wisely. And keep your distance from Yagami, as he seems to be making you nervous."

"Jun." Turning his head to face the messy haired girl, Babel smirked as he tossed over a similar device to her. "Use that one on Penmon and have him take down Takashi and Hida." Watching her stare at the device for a second or two, he coughed lightly to get her attention again. "Finally, you should take Megadramon and go see your brother Davis again, and that Ichijoji kid as well."

Staring at the group around, he smirked lightly. "The youngest Yagami and the Inoue girl will be dealt with by the newest member of my creations." Tapping a finger on the table, he finally nodded and leaned back in his seat. "For the rest of their little group, I have a special surprise in mind for them, one they won't be expecting so soon."

Chuckling lightly to himself, Babel cast a sour look at the group around him as they still hadn't dared to as much as make a simple comment about his plans so far. "Well, get out of here! You are the ones who can enter the digital world, so don't fail me!"

Watching as they back off, he snapped open his laptop and pointed at it as it turned back on. "Now go, and don't fail me Jun, this is your last chance, the same goes for you Witchmon, and before you complain about it, just remember that I have already finished making your replacements."

Settling back to enjoy the coffee he had bought on the way, he smiled darkly to himself as the digital gate went off and sucked in the group, already he could taste the victory he had been denied for so long. The feeling growing bigger as a beeping sound reached his ears, a small light flashing on his own newly made D-terminal. "Ahh, it's time to begin the show at last."

* * *

Staring down at the screen before him, Matt once more felt a bad feeling run through, like someone had already plotted his death and merely waiting for him to die. "Am I really the only one who thinks this is a bad idea?" Voicing out his concern, Matt received mostly blank stares and a single hostile and a concerned one. "Okay, I can see that I am."

Turning her attention back to the scream, Kari smiled as she could feel the others lift up their digivices and point them at the screen before her. "Okay, is everyone ready?" As no protests was heard this time around, Kari gave a simple nod as the Gate program locked onto its open stare. "Digi Port Open!"

Feeling her body get dragged forward, Kari turned to stare at her brother as each of them were dragged into the screen, his face still showing a bit of nervousness over suddenly get pushed into the group by her. "Relax Tai, it will be fine."

* * *

Monitoring the group of people going through the digi port, Babel nearly laughed out loud as he quickly hammered in the commands he had programmed the gates with yesterday, a high pitched whine filling the air as the gate flashed from green, to purple then orange and finally red before the words executing program flashed across the small screen.

"And so I begin the final play my former servant." Laughing out this time, Babel still kept it down as the program showed the group getting split out and sent to the locations selected for the final battles between his forces and the digi destined. "And after him, it will be your turn Gennai."

* * *

Feeling like his body was getting ripped to shreds, Tai didn't have the chance to give off a scream from it, before he watched his sister and Yolei get pulled off in one direction with their digimons, Matt, Sora Joe and Izzy continuing in the direction they had started in, and off to the side Davis and Ken vanished in a third direction with TK and Cody going in a fourth one while he was pulled off into a fifth one.

Then it all stopped as a hard, stone ground reached him after get flung out of a TV screen, his body rolling across the ground until it hit another form. "Aw man, that wasn't something I'd." Snapping up his head, Tai stared over at the TV screen before him and cursed loudly. "Kari; how could it, where did she go?"

"Where did who go, and what happened?" Pushing himself up, Agumon glanced over at Tai moving towards the TV screen rather fast and clearly ignoring him. "Tai, so you did come after all."

Stopping at the sudden statement, Tai stared over at Agumon with a puzzled expression, as if trying to figure out how Agumon could have ended up where he was all of a sudden, the chance of it too big of coincidence even for Tai's liking at the moment. "Agumon, what are you doing here"

Scratching his head, Agumon gave his best frown as something clicked inside of his head. "You mean you didn't send that message to me, that you wanted to meet me here to talk?" Turning to stare at the surroundings, Agumon grew even tenser as he snarled a bit as the tiny bit of suspicion he had had about it grew much bigger. "Look out, this suddenly feels too much like a trap if you ask me."

His statement getting proved far to fast for any of their liking as Witchmon's shadow fell over them and the area at that very moment. "Aw, you really figured that out much faster then I had thought you would little mon." Lifting up her hands as she slipped off her broom to land on the ground, Witchmon giggled loudly. "But no matter, it means we can get this over with even faster then I had thought as well."

Both of them moving closer to one another, Agumon looked up at Tai briefly and nodded at him. "Go find a place to hide, this will be a messy fight, and I don't want you to get hurt because of me or her actions!" Running forward as he yelled out the last part, his body began to glow white as Tai's digivice gave a small whining sound. "Agumon digivolve too Greymon!"

Not even looking one bit impressed, Witchmon held up both hands as she sneered at Greymon still moving towards her at full throttle. "Stupid dino, you're still using the same attack pattern, which means that this time, you will die!"

* * *

Rolling over onto her back, Kari groaned as her stomach finally settled down again, the whole event with the digi port having left her with a desire to avoid roller costar rides for a long time. "What happened?"

Next to her, Yolei did her best to shrug as she stood up, one hand grabbing her helmet on the way and returning it to its position around her head. "Felt like the gate crashed or something." As she spoke, she reached down a hand and pulled Kari up from the ground.

Brushing off some dirt, Kari adjusted her t-shirt when she narrowed her eyes a bit and looked at the area around them with a more then just a puzzled expression. "Since when did it become night in the digital world, we were supposed to end up in a day time region."

Giving the area a look over as well, Yolei narrowed her eyes as a feeling of deja vu swept over her, the forest region looking very familiar to her. "You know, I get the feeling that I have been here before." Turning her head to the other side, she stopped as another sight reached her. "A broken control spire."

Having moved over to check on their partners, Kari gave the control spire a glance then frowned a bit as she cast a firm look at Yolei as she too felt the feeling of deja vu. "Now that you mention it, isn't this where you and Mimi fought the Roachmon brothers?"

Nodding in agreement, Yolei smiled as she grinned over at Kari. "It would explain the night sky and control spire, but not why we ended up here."

At Yolei last sentence, Kari froze as a more urgent question popped into her mind, urging her to cast a frantic gaze at the area once more. "Where are the others? We should have all ended up in the same place, but they're not here."

Noting it as well, Yolei felt her body grow cold as a small voice in the back of her mind began to whisper out that maybe they had been sent into a trap. "Kari, better have your digivice ready, I think this is a."

"Trap?" Came a distant and cold voice as the sound of footsteps came from within the dark shadows cast by the trees, the footsteps soon followed by what made both Kari and Yolei gag from it ugliness. Tall and very white in color, it was a humanoid digimon but with several large badly sown wounds crisscrossing its body, one arm ending in a wicked claw and with nothing bit leather pants and a metal mask for clothing, it looked far too much like a B movie monster. "Greetings, I am the newly made terror within the darkness, Neodevimon!"

On the ground, Gatomon hissed as this digimon managed to do something she hadn't expect him to do. "Kari, be careful, this digimon isn't a normal one." Her words full of sincerity as her fur stood up on its end from the evil vibes she was getting from him.

Smirking lightly behind his mask, Neodevimon spread out his arms and hovered up into the air above them, his body glowing as dark powers drew in around it. "How true, I am not, what you would call a true digimon." Lifting up his normal hand and the claw one, he gave the impression of looking at them. "Imitamon's were the beginning, and then came the more advance version, a true synthetic digimon, and I am that perfect synthetic digimon."

Getting a put of expression, Yolei shook her head a bit as she glanced over at Kari. "So you're just a wanna-be digimon?"

Next to her, Kari groaned at Yolei's bluntness, and the effect it would most likely have on the digimon before them, but even with that, she couldn't help but smile at how brave she was, not letting anything prevent her form saying what she meant no matter what the situation was.

"Fufufufu!" Hovering up into the air before them, Yolei and Kari turned to stared up as Neodevimon gently flew towards them, his horrible appearance made worse by the darkness of their new place, the whole thing seemingly looking like a part out of an old horror movie. "You will all die here, so he has decided."

Jumping up, Gatomon growled in her throat as she took off running, claws ready to tear through this Devimon wanna be freaky digimon that had dared to attack her partner and friends like that. "Lighting Paw!" Hammering her gloved front paw down on the leg of the Neodevimon, all she got from him was a slight chuckle before getting kicked off.

Lifting one arm up over his head, Neodevimon didn't even utter out one word as dark energy flowed in around his spread out fingers lazily. "Everything must die in time, and your time is here." Lashing out his hand and arm, he pointed the dark energy right at the two girls and Hawkmon, the bird digimon staring wide-eyed at the attacking digimon. "Deep Sorrow!"

Screaming in fear as the dark energy ripped out towards them, Yolei felt her digivice activate at her side as a loud humming sound filled the air.

"Hawkmon digivolve too... Aquilamon!" Spreading out his wings to offer more protection to his partner and Kari, the large bird digimon fired off the first attack he could think off hoping that it could at least lower the pain he knew he would feel when it hit him. "Blast Rings!"

Instead, it fully deflected the attack and caused it to spread out to the side before streaming right into the chest of Neodevimon, the synthetic digimon letting out a howl of anger as he was shoved backwards through the air.

From behind Aquilamon, Kari narrowed one eye as she watched the attacking digimon move to make another attack, his body still showing a bit of damage where he had been hit by the blast rings. "He's not that powerful if even a lone champion can scratch him that much."

Turning her head to the side, Kari looked over at Gatomon as the cat digimon pulled herself up from the ground and smirked up at Neodevimon. "Go for it Gatomon, he's not so tough after all, you can take him." watching her digimon rush forward again, she cheered her on even more.

Turning his gaze down to see the white feline digimon rush towards him again, Neodevimon growled deep in his throat as he lashed out to knock it away, his mind urging him to destroy the bird digimon for causing him pain. "Stun Claw!"

The attack knocking Gatomon back through the air with a scream of raw pain as her body gave of a faint burnt small and twitched as she landed on her feet, the white feline digimon hissing as a weak feeling spread through her body, the small gashes she had gotten from the back hand were burning a bit more then they should have. The simple thought of poison running through her mind even as her body began to shut down. "Kari!"

Gasping as she heard the need in Gatomon's voice, Kari took off running, moving around Yolei as the older girl tried to pull her back to safety behind Aquilamon. "Gatomon."

"Fufufu!" Stopping as the annoying laughter reached her, Kari screamed as Neodevimon swooped down towards her, dark energy flowing in around him and moving to reach her. "Deep Sorrow!"

Then the world moved harshly around her as she was pulled foreword, one shoulder hitting a rock as she landed, the blow causing her to cry out in pain. "What are you thinking?" Turning her head at the angry question, she found Yolei glaring right down at her. "You could have been killed."

Moving to see Yolei a bit better, She did glance over to see Neodevimon and Aquilamon fly off into thea ir for a second round of fighting. "I had to help Gatomon, she needs me." Trying to turn over to see Gatomon, she felt Yolei pull her back again. "Let me go, I have to!"

"And what of me, what am I supposed to do then?" Yelling the words right into Kari's face, Yolei stood up and glared down at the girl before her. "I am just trying to help you, you don't have to push me away all the time." Moving to leave, she stopped as she felt Kari grab her pants leg. "What?"

Lowering her eyes a bit, Kari gave a weak smile as she thought about it, remembering how she had pushed not just Yolei, but also Davis, TK and Cody away in her attempt to show her brother that while she still wanted to be the sister he remembered, she had also learned to stand on her own. "I'm sorry, I'm just not used to such things, I tried to put on a tough front for so long, to show that I wasn't affected so much, to show the world that I was just as good a leader and friend as my brother."

Looking up at Yolei, Kari smiled a bit at her. "That's why I admire you Yolei, you can at least be open about your feelings to everyone, I can barely talk with Tai, even after what happen yesterday, I don't even know how to act like the Kari I once was before my brother..."

Feeling someone pull her close, Kari opened her eyes to see Yolei smile at her. "I should be the one to admire you, I don't know if I could have handle it." Turning her head to look at Neodevimon and Aquilamon fighting, she sighed a bit. "But you must understand that there are times when we have to work together, remember, you told me the same thing when we were looking for Ken's base?"

"I know, but Gatomon." Kari started off saying, but then stopped as she saw the white feline digimon struggling to reach over and help Yolei's digimon. "Gatomon!" Pushing Yolei away, Kari stared at her partner digimon. "What are you doing?"

Turning to face Kari, Gatomon smiled over at Kari as she pushed herself up in an attempt to look as fine and unhurt as she could. "Aquilamon needs help, and I'm the only around who can help." Smiling at Kari, Gatomon held up her gloved pars in front of her. "Trust me Kari, between me and him, no one will ever get the best of us, just like it is with you and Yolei."

Turning her head around, Kari stared at Yolei as the purple haired girl smiled at her. "What do you say Kari, want to let me help you just this once."

Giving off a real smile, Kari nodded and held out her hand to let Yolei pulled her up from the ground. "Now, let's give it our best!"

"You got it." Yolei replied as she didn't let go of Kari's hand even after having pulled her up, her eyes growing a bit wider as a faint, slow rhythmic sound reached her, one she had only heard after all those times when she had been running so fast and. (What's that, I can hear my own heart beating, no, I can hear her heart!)

Looking at Yolei much the same way, Kari felt her smile grow wider. (And I can hear your thoughts as well Yolei, but does this mean that?) Turning her head to the side at the same time as Yolei did, she watched as both Gatomon and Aquilamon were surround by a pinkish purple light.

"Gatomon!"

"Aquilamon!"

"DNA digivolve too..." Flying around each other in a DNA stand like spiral, Gatomon and Aquilamon glowed brightly before crashing together in a glaring light at the height of the spiral, a new figure emerging from with in it, standing about the same height as a medium sized human, he had powerful looking arms with feathers on them, a birds legs and tails feathers, but Gatomon's cat ears sticking out through the side of a visor. "Silphymon!"

Still glowing, Silphymon regarded Neodevimon who had retreated to escape the light show, a dark hiss coming form him as the faint tendrils of dark energy began to draw in around him. "Kari, Yolei, please move back to where it's safe." Speaking in strange duel voice that was a mix of Gatomon and Aquilamon, the birdman like digimon held out his hands in front of him as pink energy flowed into each palm. "We don't want you to get hurt in this fight."

Nodding at the same time, Both Kari and Yolei began to move backwards, both of them still smiling determined as they watched their fused digimon partner prepared to kick the synthetic digimon's behind.

* * *

Making sure his goggles hadn't been damaged form the rough transport through the digital portal first, Davis cast a dark look out over the plain desert region when he had made sure that the goggles were in perfect shape.

Silently deciding that rather badland region and the very impressive sights of natural stone pillars reaching more then 28 meters up into the air while rather breathtaking, was also not the best of places to end up at. "Well, the good thing is that we're alive, the bad thing is this, just how do we get down from here?"

Behind him, Ken didn't answer as he was busy making sure Wormmon was okay, and that they could still use the TV set, a thing he wasn't so sure off when it gave a low hissing sound and let out a puff of smoke. "Well, we better think of a way down from here, the TV just gave out so that way home is out of the question."

Grinning lightly, Davis spun around to face Veemon while one hand held out his digivice like he always did. "At least it's a problem that's quickly solved."

Feeling power rush through him, Veemon gave a small giggled as his body literally exploded with light and more power then his rookie from was meant to hold. "Veemon digivolve too EX-Veemon!" Spreading out his wings, EX-Veemon grabbed Davis and Ken in a gentle hold while Wormmon began crawling up on his wrist to sit there rather then on Ken's arm. "Hand on everyone, the Veemon express is off to the ground level."

"Dark Side Attack!"

Turning around, the large blue and white dragon man like cursed as he saw several missiles heading towards him. The only thing saving him and his passengers from instant deletion were a quick, but barely controlled, fall out over the edge of the cliff.

Watching from the back of Megadramon as the large digimon swept through the air, Jun pouted as her brother and his stupid little friend vanished from her sight, their death scene denied her at the moment. "Nice shot, but get ready anyway Megadramon, I don't think this battle will be over so quickly."

"And you're right about that Sis!"

Snarling at the cheerful and slightly joking tone of voice from her little brother, Jun watched as that fused digimon that her brother were running around with lately rose up over the cliff edge, Davis and Ken sitting on his shoulders. "Long time no see Davis, ready to finally give up and die like the loser you are?"

Smirking at her as he adjusted his goggles, Davis looked over at Ken briefly to see him give a thumps up gesture right back at him. "Well, I don't plan on losing to you Jun, but we will be ending this today no matter what it takes." Face growing determined as he focused on Paildramon, Davis nodded once at him. "Go for it, and remember, don't hurt Jun, but take out Megadramon once and for all!"

Rearing in defiance Megadramon reared back as both of his arm launchers slammed open, missiles pouring out in a steady stream as Jun gave a dark laugh form his back.

Rearing back as well, Paildramon grabbed both machine guns at his hips and let lose with a stream of bullets, ripping as many missiles apart as he could, while dodging the ones he missed.

As the attack finally stopped, both Paildramon and Megadramon stared at one another, before moving forward, both of them intent of turning the battle into a close quarter all out slug feast. The thought of taking the other one down with a long range weapon long gone for the moment.

And on each of their backs, their partners watched grimly as the battle truly began, knowing that just one of them would make it out of this encounter.

* * *

Pushing himself up from where he had landed after the rough transfer, Cody opened his mouth to inquire the presence of his friends at the moment, when a hand clamped down over his mouth.

Moving around in a panic at first, he stopped as he spotted both Armadillomon and Patamon making the motion for him to be silent at him, before they turned back to gaze out of what he could make out to be a tube like structure.

Getting released after a few long seconds of a thick silence, Cody cast a frown at the one who had held a hand over his mouth, nodding more to himself as he confirmed it to be TK, then moved closer to the older blond haired boy. "What's going on?"

Leaning down to better hear and reply in a whisper as well, TK's eyes darken a bit as he remembered what had gone on in the last few minutes. "We're in trouble that's what, so be as quiet as you can." Looking up at the top of the tube like structure, the blond haired boy sighed loudly as he settled down to sit on the floor. "Okay, here's the deal, I don't know where we are or the others for that matter."

"Must have been a gate malfunction, but how?" Cody whispered out as he scratched his head absently and turned to study their hiding place better. One touch of hand telling him that it was organic rather then the metal structure he had expected. "What is this place anyway?"

Smirking a bit, TK grinned as he turned to regard the structure as well. "It's called a hiding tree, there's a whole bunch of them out there." Making a motion towards Patamon and Armadillomon's look out post, TK coughed a bit and shook his head as he remembered that he should also be quiet. "Anyway, we're in a forest region, and, well, you can take a look outside for yourself."

Moving over to look out the hole, Cody narrowed his eyes as he could clearly see a large number of trees, and hovering just above them was the largest bird he had ever seen, brightly green and red, it's head moving from side to side as it scanned the ground. "TK, what is that thing?"

From right behind him, TK looked up at the bird like digimon as well, one hand clenched up tightly as he gaze harshly at it with a rather large deal of fury. "That's Parrotmon, and before you ask, yes, he's a bad mon." Eyes closing, TK settled back away from the hole and shook his head. "It's that Penmon digimon that Jun had, he's somehow gotten the means to reach the ultimate level."

"Ultimate level." Cody breathed out as he stepped back into the center of the tree. "Then we have a problem, Armadillomon only managed to reach the champion level recently."

Watching Patamon, TK held up his digivice and slowly turned it around with one hand. "Agemon is powerful as a champion, but I wonder if he can stand up to Parrotmon."

Turning his head around as he picked up on his partners comment, Patamon bristled a bit as he hovered up into the air. "Of course I can, I stood up to Myotismon and Piedmon as Angemon remember."

As the blond haired boy his head to face his partner, TK's eyes had something in them that made Patamon freeze and forget all about his bias at getting called weak. "You're thinking of that time, aren't you?" Hovering closer to his human friend, Patamon landed on his head and did his best to smile despite the bad memories. "Cheer up, it won't be like that, I won't end up deleting myself with a suicide attack."

At his place, Cody bleached as part of the conversation made him frown, the few things he had just heard made some of the things TK had said and done in the past more understandable. It would help explain some of TK's anger at the actions of dark digimons, if what he had just begun to suspect were true. "You two, shouldn't we thinking of getting out of here, rather then fighting?"

Giving his a quick glance, TK and Patamon nodded once before moving to the hole in the tree. "You right about that Cody, but we have to make it out of here fast if we don't want to be spotted."

Slipping out of the hiding tree, the two human boys and digimon began to move away from Parrotmon while hiding in whatever shadows they could find. TK leading them as he kept a firm eye on the TV set they had come out off, and Parrotmon at the same time.

None of them noticing the dark shadow watching all of them from the shadows up ahead, a shadow that quickly dismissed them as anything worth his time, but the one seemingly chasing them seemed to be more powerful then the children and their digimons.

Someone that could be worthy of a battle with, which was therefore he simply stepped out into whatever light could be found in the forest, planting himself right in the path of the two kids and their partner digimons.

Stopping in his tracks, TK took a deep breath of shock and fear as he spotted just who it was standing right before him with the air of total control and power emanating from every part of his body. "Blackwargreymon?"

Behind TK, Cody gasped louder then he should have as he too recognized the digimon before them, the hulking figure still sending a small chill down his spine as the digimon just gazed at them. "TK, we can't beat him, we need the others to even stand up to him."

Armadillomon opening his mouth to agree with his partner suddenly gave a snarl as he spun around to be greeted with the sounds of wings flapping and a loud high-pitched cry of victory. "Cody, TK, Patamon, get ready, we got another problem to worry about right now."

Ripping the trees in his path out of the way, Parrotmon landed roughly on the ground, his eyes drilling right into the digi destined as he grinned darkly. "Hello, my little worms, ready to be caught and devoured?" Then the large bird like digimon noticed the dark digimon standing behind the humans. "And who the heck are you?"

Not replying, Blackwargreymon tensed, his arms lifting up as light glinted off his claws as he leaped off from the ground, ripping through the air as fast as he could. Then it was over as he stopped on the other side of parrotmon, gauntlet-covered arms lowering themselves down to his side. "Worthless."

Giving a shrill scream of pain and anger, Parrotmon spun around and gasped as he felt his left wing detach from his body and deleted instantly. "You, how!" Then the rest of his body exploded into digital dust that rapidly faded away.

Facing the two digi-destined kids and their digimon partners, Blackwargreymon gaze turned darker then it should have, his whole body nearly glowing with the power he had. "You two want to challenge me?" His gaze never breaking as he voiced out the question at them.

Staring back, TK felt his anger fade away to be replaced with pure fear. Parrotmon had been an ultimate level digimon, that much he remembered from the time they had remembered the events in Highton View Terrence.

And Blackwargreymon had torn through him like he wasn't even a rookie level digimon.

They couldn't win, not like this. He was too powerful.

* * *

Spinning around as soon as she landed on the ground, Witchmon lashed out with both hands in front of her, blue energy forming instantly around them. "Baruruuna Gale!" The sheer force of the attack ripping out across the ground with enough force to form a trench in it as it streaked rapidly towards her enemies.

Moving around as well, Greymon's mouth opened up to allow a sea of fire to form inside of it, his sharp teeth getting colored dark crimson and orange as it moved past them. "Nova Fire!" The fireball launched off flying across the distance as well, melting the earth below it and setting grass ablaze as well.

About halfway between the two digimons, the attacks ripped into one another with enough force to blow a small crater into the ground itself, red hot glowing shards of rock falling down all over the place as the explosion died down.

Glaring at the small witch like digimon, Greymon pulled in more power as he slowly opened his mouth again, hoping that he could at least get a quick attack at her before she could move anywhere.

Turning her attention from the fiery crater towards Greymon, Witchmon gilled darkly as she shot forward, water pulled in around her fist as she got closer to him. "No chance Greymon, I won't let you burn me up that easily, Aquari Pressure!"

Watching the attack speeding towards him, Greymon gave up his fire attack and settled for roaring in anger as water spread out over him, quickly pressing in on him with far too much force as it swept up over his chest region. "You little." Spitting out the words, Greymon suddenly rushed forward, head lowered down in front of him. "Grand Horn!"

Letting go of her water attack, Witchmon screamed as she got hit in the side by a rushing Greymon, the attack hard enough to send her flying up into the air. "You stupid!" Screaming her words back at him as her broom shot up to her, preventing her from falling back down onto the ground again. "Why won't you just give up, you can't win against me."

"Cause if I give up, you'll kill Tai, and I won't let you kill off my best friend and partner!" Shooting off two quick fireballs with that small rant, Greymon roared in frustration as each one missed by a long shot, Witchmon simply proving to be too fast in the air. "Get down here and fight me like a decent Mon would!"

Clenching up her hands at his outburst, Witchmon screamed out in anger and dive bombed right down at Greymon, her hat falling off on the halfway. "You dare call me, an un-decent Mon?" Her broom shooting around to hit the side of the giant dinosaur like digimon's head harshly as she passed him. "Well, I won't stand for that."

Moving back to a safe place, Witchmon giggled as she slowly pulled out a small glowing sphere from her sleeve, the surface of the sphere rippling a bit at the contact. "My mission is to kill you for betraying the master Yagami, but he also foresaw that Greymon would be too much of a problem to me." Crushing the sphere in her hand, she let out a yelp as a dark purple mist seeped up her arm. "And gave me this, the power to crush you once and for all."

Throwing her head back as the mist covered her completely, her laughter grew even more insane as her hand and body gave off a dark blue glow that covered her from sight completely. "Witchmon digivolve too..."

Looking out from his safe spot, Tai cursed loudly as he saw what was happening, already fully knowing that Greymon wouldn't be able to stand up to an ultimate, not matter how powerful he seemed, right after having fought against a champion that had rivaled him in power. "Greymon, strop her form completing her digivolution, but be careful."

Nodding back at Tai, Greymon grinned as he prepared another fireball, already having thought along the same line of what Tai had suggested. "Here goes, Nova fire!

Racing towards the dark blue light, the fireball nearly made contacted with it, before a hand shot out of the light and knocked the fire away with a soft laugh. "Now now Greymon, that isn't the way a true gentlemon behave it is?" Stepping fully out of the light, the newly digivolved digimon laughed as she showed off her body. "Like it? I'm a Bastemon now, just so you know it."

Shaped much like a human on the top, Bastemon's lower body looked like a cat's, but with a leopards spots, two tails moved in the behind her, and her upper body had a small tank top covering her breasts and a transparent veil in front of her lower face. "Well, do you like it?"

Giggling insanely, Bastemon held out her hands in a mocking come hinter gesture aimed at Tai. "No answer huh? No matter, now come play with me pet of the traitor, and watch as you lose." Laughter truly filling the air as she finished speaking, Bastemon began to drawn in darkness around her, eyes narrowing as it flowed around her body. "I hope you're ready, Yagami cause you will be the one to die right after I delete your partner."

Gulping at the words, Tai looked own at his crest and wondered if he could make it work, if it was somehow possible for it to digivolve Greymon despite the feeling of minor fear running through him. "Wherever you are Kari, I hope you are at least doing better then me."

TBC: The Final Temple Part 2

AN: Things are heating up, wouldn't you all agree. But I am sad to see that only two seems to be reviewing each time, so I am asking you all, do you think another summery would help? If so, do you have a suggestion for one, cause if you do, leave it in a review and I'll pick the best one to be used for this story.

I am rather happy about the first parts of the story, but I don't know how well the fighting parts came out, some of them seems rushed to me, but on the other hand I have taken longer with this chapter then I wanted too. But enough of that, give me your opinion everyone. That is all that matters.

And visit my site will ya.


	18. Part XVIII

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Summery: AU, very AU and dark, with mentioning of torture, violence and blood drinking.

Revealing his identity to Gennai and Catherine at last, the master turned out to be Osamu Ichijoji, Older brother of Ken Ichijoji, the Digimon Emperor. And with only one temple remaining to be looted and its core capture, the forces of evil are close to winning. And what is the secret of Witchmon, and just how is she connected with Taichi

Special note: 'Thoughts'

* * *

Spawn of the vampire  
The Final Temple Part 2

* * *

Flying backwards, Paildramon gasped for breath as he shot upwards to escape the sudden sneak attack from below by Megadramon's tail, the larger fake digimon roaring out in anger as he once more failed to hit him. "Davis, this is, to much. I don't know how much longer we can on."

Even as he spoke, Jun smirk had faded as her eyes turned to stare at her digivice, the once glowing screen now cold and dark as it power transfer to her digimon was cut off. "Penmon, he must have failed to defeat them." Mumbling out the words, Jun turned her head back to face Davis and his friend. "Well, I'll just have to make sure that someone pays for it."

Snapping out a finger, she pointed straight at Paildramon as her dark sneer reformed. "Come on Davis, is that best your little fusion toy can dish out, Megadramon's barely winded."

Below her, Megadramon screamed out as his cannon arms snapped open, missiles flying out of them in a steady stream. "Face it brother, you can never beat me."

Clenching his mouth and right fist up, Davis stared harshly at Jun and then down at Paildramon as the dragon man like digimon shot up to avoid the attack. "We have to get in close to them again, otherwise we're finished, she's got the best long range attack, and."

Shooting forward, Paildramon interrupted Davis speech as his gauntlets sent out two glowing spikes. "I hear you Davis, but I really hope this works." Ducking under a strike from Megadramon's metal cannon fist, Paildramon moved as much power into his spikes as he could, ripping them across Megadramon's chest. "Sting strike!"

Letting lose a painful and sheer hateful scream as the sudden pain flared through him, Megadramon nearly sent Jun flying into the air as his whole body jerked back. "Dark Side attack!" Two extra powerful missiles getting fired off as he got far enough away from the smaller digimon to do so.

Having ducked back as well, Paildramon easily moved away from the attack, his grin fading behind his mask as the attack doubled back around towards him. "Damn, he can do that too?" Quickly firing off his desperado blaster attack, he gave a sigh of relief as the attack simply blew up without really hurting him. "Okay, so now what? We scratched him but it didn't seem to work so well."

Having watched the attack as well, Ken suddenly turned around to stare at Megadramon hovering there as he prepared to fire off another volley of missiles. "Wait Paildramon, I got an idea." Smiling evilly, Ken quickly whispered it out to Paildramon as he saw the next set of missiles get fired off. "Understand?"

Smirking as well, Paildramon didn't give off any answer other then suddenly flying rapidly towards Megadramon, his hip guns moving up into firing position. "Desperado Blaster!" Firing of the bullets right at Megadramon, he didn't give off any curses as the dark digimon shot up into the air, his body only taking a few hits near the tail area. "Got you!"

Spinning around in the air as he passed under Megadramon, Paildramon grinned as he held up both his hands at Megadramon's tail, the spikes on the top of his gauntlets glowing brightly. "Cable Catcher!" The two spikes shooting out much like ropes or chains would, quickly catching a hold of the dark digimons tail.

On the dark digimons back, Jun stared downwards as she gave a loud laugh at their attempt at attack. "Please Davis, what do you think you are doing? This won't even slow us down, and all you've done is leave yourself wide open to Megadramon's missiles!"

Still smirking behind his mask, Paildramon kept moving even as he turned his head to face the approaching missiles, his cable attack suddenly growing tight as he pulled all he could on them. "Hey, come down here and try feeling your own attack for once Megadramon!"

Giving a roar of surprise as he was pulled down by Paildramon, Megadramon twisted his head up in time to see his shark like missiles smirking faces just before they rammed right into him, fire and heat washing over him as each one exploded.

On his back, Jun screamed loudly as her body was knocked off her digimon partner's back. Her eyes closing in fear as all she felt after that was a rough wind as she began to fall down to the ground. "Noooo!" Then a hard impact hit her as her body was roughly stopped in its fall. "What?"

Smirking at her, Davis grabbed her arms and held her down as he looked over at Paildramon's head. "I got her, now finish this battle!" His voice making the messy haired girl wince from both its loudness, and closeness to her ear.

Watching calmly as Megadramon shook off the effects of his own attack, Paildramon focused on the area of his chest where he had already hit him once before as his lifted up his hip guns. "Desperado Blaster!"

Twisting her head as a loud pain filled roar reached her, Jun stared wide eyed as Megadramon's body flickered from a colored and scale covered body into a transparent one while his chest were riddled with bullet holes, then as the firing stopped, it turned completely transparent and exploded as its Imitamon make up shape finally deleted rather violently.

And with that, came the feeling of utter defeat. And knowing that there was no chance of her ever getting any of the rewards she had been promised so many years ago. The wealth, respect and power. Forever out of her grasp. Her mind nearly shut down as her shoulder slumped downwards and a few tears slid out of her eyes.

"So, do you give up?" Davis softly mumbled out as he felt Jun stop struggling to get free.

Looking up at him with hate filled eyes as the question burnt away any kind of sadness, Jun snorted before looking away from him. Mentally deciding that there was simply no way she was ever going to admit defeat to him, never.

Next to them, Ken pulled out his D-terminal and flicked it open. "Davis, I'll mail the others, and then see how far away we are from the original meeting place."

Giving a sharp nod in return, Davis looked up at the sky and allowed some of the tension to leave his body, he had gotten his sister back at last, and even if she hated him, it was still a plus. All that was needed now was to cure her like Tai and Mimi had been and it would all be complete.

Well, almost all of it Davis mused bitterly as he thought about, there was still that bastard Babel out there somewhere.

* * *

Smashing through yet another rock with a brutal head butt, leaving rock shards flying out all over the place as he whipped around with a fireball already ready to be launched in his mouth. "Nova Fire!" Greymon cursed his opponent mentally as she just kept up annoying him by avoiding everything he threw at her.

Moving to the side with superior elegance and grace, Bastemon flicked her hand out and sent a blast of dark power ripping into the fireball as it passed her, snuffing out the attack and knocking Tai's hiding place down as well. "So, that's where you are." Smiling smugly, Bastemon did a quick jump as Greymon passed underneath her. "Now, just stay right there Yagami, and I'll deal with you after finishing my dance with this mockery of a digimon."

Lashing out with both hands, purple light swarmed in around them as her eyes glowed as well. "Helter Skelter!" The purple light breaking away as a bolt of darkness shot out to hit Greymon in the back. The attack sending the large orange digimons tumbling forward as arcs of darkness raced over him. "Aw, not done yet, well don't worry, I got more where that came from loser!"

Moving quickly, Greymon rushed forward as several blast of darkness raced past him, rocks and dirt flying wherever they impacted. "I don't care if you are an ultimate or a mega, I won't let you hurt Tai, I won't!" Changing direction, Greymon charged right at Bastemon, fire shooting out of his mouth rapidly.

Dancing past the attacks with ease, Bastemon grumbled a bit as one fireball did manage to singe a few hairs on her left arm, the minor discomfort enough to make her send out a wave of darkness to batter away the fire once and for all.

Left standing unhurt, for the most part, her eyes still glowed as she focused on him, her arms lifting up in front of her as she pulled on the most powerful thing she had in her possession, her beauty. "Hey dino boy, watch this." Moving around in a very seductive dance, Bastemon grinned as Greymon had stopped his mad charge and where staring at her in a confused manner as she gave a very pronounce sway with her hips.

Still moving in a dance, she suddenly whipped around, startling both Tai and Greymon as one of her arms lashed out at the large orange digimon, her fist covered in a red mist that shot out towards Greymon's chest area. "Vampire Dance!" Hitting him just as Bastemon called out the name of the attack, her smile never faltered as her target roared out in intense pain and suffering while stumbling backwards.

Sinking down to his knees, Greymon gave a last weak moan as light covered him, shrinking along with him, as he kept de-digivolving all the way down to his in-training level.

Shooting back form the In-training digimon, the red mist flowed back into Bastemon who glowed brightly and gave a low moan of pleasure, one hand lifting up to draw the red mist closer in. "Thank you Greymon, you energy was a very delicious snack to taste, a true feast for a hungry girl like me to enjoy after a good fight."

Turning her attention away from the growling in-training digimon, she smile das she spotted Tai trying to move over to where his partner digimon had fallen without her spotting him. "And now for the main course for today, I do wonder how your human energy will taste."

Moving forward, she laughed as the red mist shot out again, racing in closer to the messy haired boy as he stumbled backwards and tripped over that stupid cape he was wearing. "Vampire Dance!" Yelling out the attack, she gave a quick laugh as it flowed over the boy, a scream coming from it as leeched off his energy. "That's right boy, scream, show me how much it really hurts!"

Still laughing, she stopped as another scream filled the air, her mind losing the sense of joy she had been feeling just a second ago. Instead, she was left feeling hollow and empty, like she had done something very wrong.

Looking back down at Tai, she waved her right hand and dispelled the red mist, her mouth opening lightly at the sight of the boy twisting up into a ball, his eyes portraying the pain he had been feeling in the last few seconds, and behind that there was something else, something that shouldn't be there. "You, you."

Feeling another emotion well up, Bastemon's mouth twisted into a dark sneer, her hands lashing out as her feet carried her forward, catching him around the neck roughly. "How dare you look at me like that, I don't want your pity, nor do I give it away to anyone, you hear me."

Shaking him, she stopped, as all she could see in his eyes was pity now, and sadness growing fourth. "You." Pulling back one hand, her nails glinted in the light as she prepared to rip those eyes, to remove that annoying pity once and for all when her eyes were drawn down to something else. "Oh no you don't, that won't work with me!"

Lashing out at something else, she hit the orange colored D3 that Tai had been lifting up, the light glowing faintly on its screen exploding outward as Bastemon hit the side of it, it's force great enough to stop her movement short, before it consumed both her and Tai completely.

"What is this?" Her voice full of terror, she had to force herself just to spit out the question as her mind went black for a second, then refilled with new memories, memories she hadn't expected to have.

Memories of a different time and a different life.

Memories of Tai, and a small black colored Gatomon like digimon.

And then she knew it, that it was memories of her and Tai.

Of her, the traitor digimon who gave up everything to protect the one who hadn't treated her like a walking punching bag.

Dropping Tai, Bastemon stumbled backwards and fell over, landing on the ground with a soft impact, eyes half closed as she gazed up at the sky above her. "What, what do I do now?" The question coming from her as she could feel her anger fading away, along with that, all of her desires and needs to kill the traitor Yagami. "What do I do?"

* * *

"Static Force!"

"Deep Sorrow!"

Ripping into each other, the two attacks struggled for supremacy over the other, the static energy finally ripping through the dark attack and traveled towards the digimon behind it.

Moving backwards as fast as he could, Neodevimon did let out a scream as the attack scored a hit on his left leg, power crackling through his whole body while the area hit went numb from the pain alone.

Finally shaking off the attack, Neodevimon breathed out heavily as his eyes focused on Silphymon moving up towards him rapidly, the bird like digimon glowing with power as he got closer and closer. "Stun Claw!" Slashing wildly with both hands, he smirked as four blades of poisoned darkness shot out from each one in succession.

Spinning to one side as the attacks game closer, Silphymon stared down after the poison attack, his attention on both defeating this digimon, and protecting his partners from any harm at the same time.

Turning back around, the eyes behind his visor narrowed as Neodevimon had used the time of his distraction to move out his position. "Where did he go?" Looking around, Silphymon felt a chill go up his back as something felt like it was coming from below him and passing by right behind him.

"Guilty Claw!"

As soon as the words had been spoken out, Silphymon let out a blood chilling scream as his whole back felt like it was fire, five long glowing gashes ripping across it and sending massive amount of pain through his body.

On the ground, both Kari and Yolei gasped as what they had thought to be a weak dark digimon, suddenly seemed to be domination the battle so easily when their fused ultimate level digimon should have been walking all over him. "He's going to lose isn't he?"

Shaking her head negatively, Kari clenched up one hand and stared at Silphymon with determination in her eyes. "No, both something really is wrong, it's like he's drawing on the darkness in this area." Casting a quick look around to see the night covered forest, Kari bit her lip a bit "We need to get him out into a place where he can't drawn on any kind of darkness."

Agreeing with what the younger girl was saying, Yolei had turned to regard the area as well, her eyes narrowing when she spotted the place she had been looking for. "Silphymon, get him over to exit to the forest, we'll lure him out into the day light! "

Up in the air, the bird man like digimon pushed the pain to the back of his head as he focused on the approaching dark digimon, both hands flexing open as he shot off as well, rapidly avoiding the attack that would have hit him if he hadn't moved.

Turning as soon as he had passed, Silphymon reacted with lighting speed as he Grabbed one of the dark digimon arms, pulling back on it as hard as he could before going into a spin, Neodevimon screaming out in anger over getting spun around with him as well. "Here goes!"

Letting go of Neodevimon and sending him flying towards the exit, Silphymon quickly took off flying as well, pink light flowing down over him, the buckle on his belt beginning to spin around rapidly as an attack was powered up for use. "Astral Laser!"

Finally stopping his flight, Neodevimon let out a yell of rage as he turned to face the one who had tossed him, getting a face and body full of astral light and power right at him, the attack making his skin crawl and burn as it pushed him even further backwards.

Shattering the attack as soon as the pain died down, Neodevimon growled as he focused on the area in front of him, failing to see Silphymon before he had heard him, the flying digimon hovering right behind him with Kari and Yolei held in his arms.

Lashing out and sending a wave of darkness flying, Neodevimon smirked as it succeed in making Silphymon fly upwards with his cargo, the two humans mocking him the whole time as they began to fly away from him.

Flexing his hand s as he began to follow, Neodevimon chuckled as his brain figure out that it could only mean one thing for them to be running away. They were retreating, and on the verge of losing, nothing more then easy pray for him to finish off when he finally caught up with them.

So intent on following them, Neodevimon didn't even noticed that Silphymon was flying towards one of the few places where daylight could be seen lancing though the dark sky above them.

* * *

Lowering his gauntlet-covered arms, Blackwargreymon towered up over the two younger boys with an impatient look in his eyes as the seconds went by without an answer to his question. "Well, do you wish to challenge me?" Taking a step forward, he grunted as the two digimons stumbled back in fear. "Humph, weaklings."

Swiftly turning around, one arm slashed out and ripped through the trunk of a tree with little effort, the large thing giving a loud cracking sound before crashing into the ground loudly. "Is there no one worthy of fighting with me in this world!"

"Is that all you can think off? Fighting?"

Snapping back around, Blackwargreymon stared down at the human boy who had dared to speak that way to him, golden eyes narrowing as they took in the weak and completely laughable body before him. "And who are you to ask me that question? Or are you saying that there is something else beside fighting?"

Shaking with fear, Cody shot a quick look up at TK, seeing a lightly understanding look in the blond haired boy's eyes as he slowly moved towards his digivice. Then the youngest boy turned back to face the digimon before him. "Of course there is, take us, we fight yes, but we also try and help others, work towards rebuilding this world so its back to the way it was before it was attacked by the Digimon Emperor. And if you have a heart like me and Armadillomon, you too know that it can't only be telling you destroy things."

Not impressed by one thing Cody had said so far, Blackwargreymon began to turn away as the boy's ramblings began to give him a light headache, still, as one hand began moving up to gather in the destructive red energy at his command, the thought of a heart went through him mind, even as he knew it couldn't apply to him. "Rebuilding and helping, it doesn't concern me." Forming a sphere of raw power between his hands, he smirked as he saw the four before him stumbled back in shock. "Terra Destroyer!"

Screaming as they threw themselves down, TK and Cody watched as part of the forest went up in smoke and fire, a shockwave hitting them harshly as trees collapsed and dirt rained back down from the sky. "I fight because I was created to do so. I have no heart or care for anyone else. I may be able to think and refuse to obey Arukenimon's orders, but that is more likely a fault in the control towers that was used in my creation then a heart."

Pushing himself up, TK glared at the digimon as he began to leave again. "You're wrong, you do have a heart. You're just ignoring it because you don't want to give up on destroying and fighting everyone you meet!" Clenching up one hand, TK's eyes almost blazed with the anger running through him. "You are no better then they were, or him. All of you are the same, living only to hurt others."

Behind TK, Patamon gave a small whimper as he felt the angry power from TK, knowing already what it could do if it was allowed to overtake him. "TK, calm down, please, calm down." Flying up to pull on TK's shoulder, he gave a small squeak as he was pushed away. "TK, no!"

Just watching the boy with the blonde hair, Blackwargreymon felt aw anger flood him as well. He didn't know who these others were, but to think that he was telling him all he cared about was hurting others made him sick. He cared about the battle, to fight worthy foes. Not just trample down everyone in his path. "You boy, you want to fight me?"

Holding out his digivice, TK glared darkly up at Blackwargreymon as power flowed from him and into the digivice. "Patamon, digivolve!"

Whimpering louder as power filled him, Patamon hoped with all of his heart that TK could control his anger, and not do anything rash again. Not like his brother had done all those years ago. "Patamon digivolve too, Angemon!" Twirling his staff around in the air as soon as he finished digivolving, Angemon quickly moved into an attack position in front of TK, Cody and Armadillomon. "TK, Cody, get out of here, I'll have to use my full power for this, and I don't want to put you two at a risk. Armadillomon, protect them for me."

Not waiting for an answer, Angemon rushed forward to engaged him head on, his staff flying sideways through the air at an unguarded Blackwargreymon that was just staring at him with an uncaring look on his face. Then his attack was blocked in a swift moved as Blackwargreymon moved forward as well, his rage replaced by a judging expression as he continued to block the staff.

* * *

Ripping through the ground, Silphymon blinked his eyes rapidly as sunlight greeted him at last; the fresh warm rays making him feel stronger then before as he turned to view his opponent burst out of the ground behind him. An angry growl turning a shriek of surprise as the light began sapping away his power.

Shooting down through the air, the birdman like digimon planted one heavy kick right on Neodevimon's chest while he was trying to block his eyes from the sunlight. "Kari, Yolei, move!" Yelling out the command, Silphymon released the two girls and shot up into the air again. "Okay Neodevimon, it ends now!"

Glaring up at Silphymon through the sunlight, a very cold and hard glare moved over Neodevimon's face as he clenched up both hands tightly. "Indeed it does, your death comes now, as he has ordered!" Rushing forward, his hands dimmed out as large amounts of darkness pulled in around them. "Die!"

Shooting back down through the air, Silphymon ignored the last word from Neodevimon as his whole body was covered in pink light, his belt buckle one more spinning around to create more power for his attack. "Astral Laser!" Sending out the attack as he stopped flying downwards, the birdman like digimon watched as it honed in on Neodevimon.

Having been ready to fire off his own attack, Neodevimon stared up as the astral laser scored a direct hit right into his chest, pink light and energy ripping through it and sending several high amounts of pain through him. "Damn you!" Screaming out the words, Neodevimon fell down from the sky, his body hammering into the ground with a loud thud as the darkness he had pulled in faded away. "I'm sorry, I have failed you master Babel."

Closing his eyes with that last comment, the synthetic dark digimon broke apart, his digital data blowing away and fading in a matter of seconds.

Just staring down at him as he utter out the last words, Silphymon slowly drifted down to stand before the place where Neodevimon had been just a second before. "He fought well, for a synthetic digimon. But what worries me is that Babel can create digimons of that power level now."

Behind him, Yolei and Kari had come up to look as well, the younger, brown haired girl biting her lip a bit as she looked down at the ground. "I should be glad we won, but it still feels to me like we just deleted a real digimon."

"It's all that Babel guy's fault, he sent him after us." Spitting out the words, Yolei clenched up her fist and turned her head away sharply. "He's as bad as the Digimon Emperor was, forcing digimons to fight and destroy for him."

Nodding in reply, Kari turned her head to the side and gave a small smile as she picked up a familiar shape moving towards them. "It's Davis and Ken." Waving a hand as a greeting while she ran forward, she stopped as a third person could be seen on Paildramon's back. "Is that Jun?"

Landing right before them, Paildramon dropped off his cargo and stared at the birdman like digimon before him with a puzzled expression. "Gatomon, Hawkmon. You two DNA digivolved?"

Smirking lightly despite being the smaller of the two, Silphymon hovered off the ground to float right in front of Paildramon, arms crossed lightly. "Got that right Paildramon, so now you're not the only fused digimon on the team anymore."

On the ground, Davis shook his head as he cast a quick look around the place; eyes narrowed as he quickly noticed who was missing and who wasn't. "Okay, Kari, you have any idea where the others are, none of then has answered our mail yet."

Shaking her head negatively, Kari turned lightly around to face the direction she and Yolei had come from. "Sorry Davis, we haven't seen anyone yet, not even here." Frowning as she spoke out the words, Kari felt a chill run down her back as it became clear to her that something was really wrong. "They should be here, at least Mimi should, and Matt and Sora as well. They weren't dragged off in a different direction inside the gate."

Tensing up at the words, Davis and Ken moved a bit closer together as they scanned the area for anything. "Think its Arukenimon again? She could have made all of this as trap." Ken muttered out as his gaze landed on Jun who still hadn't said a single word since they had captured her. "Hey, do you know anything about this?"

Simply giving back a smirk as response, Jun returned her gaze to the ground and continued to curse her little brother, his friends and everyone else she could think at the moment. All of them had to pay for this somehow, all of them had to.

Shooting Jun a distrusting look, one that quickly faded and was replaced with one of sadness, Davis shook his head and turned to face Paildramon and Silphymon above them. "Hey, check out the area will you, see if you can find any of the others around here okay?"

Moving upwards at the request from Davis, both Paildramon and Silphymon scanned the area from a much higher up in the air position, both of them stopping as something caught their eyes. "Hey, what is that down there?" Pointing one hand downwards at a long red and black shape, Paildramon cursed as whatever it was suddenly began moving away rapidly from them. "It's running away!"

Tracing a set path in the air before him, Silphymon gathered up static energy as he began to move forward as well, taking great care to keep in firing distance of whatever it was. "Static Force!" Launching the attack when he felt he was close enough to do so, the birdman like digimon continued to watched as his attack streaked through the air.

Fling down through the air, the blot of electric energy hammered into the back end of the red and black shape, a loud screeching wail filling the air as whatever it was turned around and glare up at them for a second or two, then it continued to move away, this time moving in a more twisted pattern to avoid getting hit again.

Right behind Silphymon, Paildramon tense up as he finally recognized the shape, but still felt something was off about it, like the size and color. But there was no mistake about it. That was Seadramon, no mistake about it. "But why, and what happened to make him look like that."

And as the Seadramon look back a little, before resuming his gliding towards the horizon, Paildramon pushed the thoughts away as a more pressing one emerged. Just why was he getting the feeling that Seadramon had something to do with the others disappearance.

* * *

Pushing himself up, Tai grunted as he cast a quick look around the area, one hand grasping his digivice carefully with one hand, the other reaching his tag and making sure it was there. Then he focused on a small pink digimon jumping towards him rather rapidly. "Agumon, that you?"

Stopping right before him, the pink digimon stare dup at Tai for a second before smiling and jumping around him. "I'm a Koromon now Tai, and its nice to see you're awake, I thought that Bastemon had really hurt you that time." Setting down next to him, Koromon grunted a bit as he noticed a fairly humanoid digimon sitting a bit away from them. "Hey, it's her, but why isn't she attacking us?"

Eyeing Koromon as he finished his question, Tai shook his head a bit. "So, you want her attack us?"

Bouncing up to sit on Tai's head, Koromon gave a nervous chuckle as he looked over at her. "Of course not. In this state I wouldn't even last a minute. I think." Giving a loud yelp and wrapping his ears around Tai's head to stabilize him, Koromon chuckled out a bit nervously as he watched his human partner start walking over towards Bastemon. "Um Tai, do you think this is wise, who's to say she won't attack us again."

Smiling a bit at Koromon's question, Tai rubbed one finger under his nose as he Koromon removed his ears from him. "Just call it a hunch, besides, if she wanted us dead, she had killed us by now." Grinning lightly at his joke, Tai felt Koromon smack his head lightly with one of his ears in irritation over it. "Hey, it was a joke, a joke."

Stopping right before Bastemon, Tai stared as the digimon looked up at him with a confused stare, one of her hands wrapped up in her tails as they twitched nervously. "So, you okay?" Holding out a hand to help her up form the ground, Tai gave her his best friendly smile. "Sorry about the digivice, I didn't think it would react like that"

Eyeing the hand offered to her, Bastemon lifted up her eyes to watch Tai closely, her heart nearly breaking as she recognized the smile from one of her newly regained memories. "You, you're not scared of me? But I was attacking you, trying to kill you!"

Still smiling, Tai held out his hand once more, watching her as she watched him. "I know, but somehow I feel that you won't do it again." Still holding out his hand, his smile faltered a bit as he felt those eyes once more tries to look through him and into his heart. "Do you?"

Turning her head away, Bastemon ignored the offered hand and faced the horizon. "No, I don't want to hurt you, but, I have too, I'm not." Closing her mouth she didn't dare turn face him in case he had figured it out, it wouldn't do if he could still remember the little black colored Gatomon who had been his most trusted partner.

He would hate her for it, she was sure of it. He had been her best friend, the one who had shown her that there was more to life then getting treated as a slave and beaten when she failed an assignment or were to slow to carry out an order. "Look, just get out of here and forget me, I'm not going to do anything to you or your friends again."

And that was true, she would stay here until the power in that small sphere ran out and she became Witchmon again, then she'd leave this part of the digital world, find a place far away from both him and Babel. She didn't deserve Taichi's kindness anymore, and she wouldn't help Babel no matter what, not after what she had learned about her past.

Still look down at her, Tai sighed a bit and settled down next to her, keeping an eye on her along with Koromon who stared her fully expecting her to try anything. "What's wrong?"

Getting a startled expression on her face, Bastemon snapped her head around to stare at him, not having expected him to ask that, or even talk to her after her blunt dismissal of him. "What, why do ask you me that? I'm your enemy!"

"Are you?" Tai responded as he looked at her as well. "Or are you just confused right now?" Not waiting for to answer, Tai looked away from her, a sad smile on his face. "You know, this reminds me of the time I worked for Babel, and when I had a different partner, Blackgatomon."

Watching her face turn to one of utter confusion, Tai could also feel Koromon's as the much smaller digimon seemed to sit completely still on top of his head. "I take you too woke up and found yourself trusting him in everything, and that you had to obey no matter what, simply because he was your master?"

Not getting an answer besides a sharp turn of her head, Tai grinned a bit and stood up, one hand reaching out to help her stand up. "I know how you feel, whatever happened to you, remove whatever control he had, and even if you were my enemy, I won't leave you to deal with it alone, the ones I fight against didn't just leave me when I was freed from his control."

Feeling her hand grab his in a hesitant way, Tai smiled and pulled her up to her full height. "And I won't do it to you either, Blackgatomon." Seeing her last bit of hope of him not knowing shattering, he smiled at her. "I heard you before I blacked out, and remembered where I had heard your voice before; and trust me, it is still the same kind and sweet one you had back then."

Trying to pull her hand free, Bastemon felt that she couldn't, even if she had tried as hard as she could it wouldn't have worked. She wanted to be here, being held by him no matter what, as her old self, not this mockery of a body Babel had made for her again. "Taichi."

Wrapping her arms around him, she gasped as a bright golden light filled the air, her body shaking as it went through the de-digivolving process. "Tai." But instead of her Witchmon form, she felt her body grow even smaller, small enough to fit in nicely between his arms, with well know gloves over her front paws, and a ring around her tail again. "I missed you so much."

Hugging her close, Tai smiled as he felt Blackgatomon's happiness so clearly, knowing how well it matched his won. "The same here Blackgatomon, the same here."

* * *

Flying back a bit to gain some room to move in, Blackwargreymon already had the process of forming a long range attack half done. "Terror Destroyer!" The red glowing sphere of raw destructive energy ripping through the dark forest rapidly, trees getting blow apart as it impacted them. "Give up this fight fool, you are not a worthy opponent."

Struggling up from where he had landed doing his attempt to avoid getting hit, Angemon cast a quick look over to see if Armadillomon had managed to protect TK and Cody from that attack. Sadly, this attempt cost him dearly as a heavy shape slammed into him, followed by a dark colored leg ramming right into his lower stomach area with enough force to lift him clear off the ground.

Not wasting as much as a second, Blackwargreymon stuck out at once, his gauntlet covered fist with deadly claws on it planting itself right in Angemon's face, the blow actually cracking his helmet a bit. "Humph, do you give up now, or do you want me to end this fight with a, permanent finish?"

Pushing himself up from the ground, Angemon suddenly swept out with his staff, the attack ending as Blackwargreymon grabbed it before it could hit, the golden colored thing giving a low crack as it was pushed back again. "No, I won't give up against you, TK wants me to fight you, then I'll fight you to one of us is deleted if I must, Hand of Fate!"

Stumbling back more of surprise then out of pain or damage. Blackwargreymon shook his head a bit as the attack wore off, his eyes scanned the ground to see if Angemon was still there. "Impressive." Muttering out the words, he turned to see Angemon hovering behind him, staff out in a fighting position. "You are truly a stubborn fighter, but still not worthy of dealing with me."

Winching from his place, Cody turned his head as Blackwargreymon moved in and smashed Angemon into a tree truck, the sudden move followed by the dark dinosaur like man using the humanoid digimon as a punching bag. "TK, call him off or Blackwargreymon's going to delete him."

Next to him, TK didn't answer as his eyes were smoldering with anger, the dark digimon's brutal beating of his partner making the blond haired boy grit his teeth as the scene sent far to many memories of digimons getting hurt by Devimon, Etemon and all the other evil digimons he had faced in the past back to life. "No, Angemon can do this, he can defeat Blackwargreymon if he just digivolves once more."

"Digivolves again? But TK, I thought you and the others had given up on that power?" Cody added as he pulled on TK's arm, the feeling of dread once more growing inside of him. "Wait, maybe, Armadillomon?" Turning to see his partner staring back at him, Cody held up his digivice. "Go help Angemon, but try not to get Blackwargreymon more angry then he already is, we're too outnumbered for a longer fight with him."

Nodding once, Armadillomon rushed forward, light already spreading out over his body as he triggered the digivolution to his champion level. "Armadillomon digivolves too, Ankylomon!" Rushing forward and causing a small earthquake in the process, the large digimon didn't even slow down as Blackwargreymon turned away from beating up Angemon. "Tail Hammer!"

Grunting negatively as the large well armored tail hammer came rushing at him, Blackwargreymon shot up into the air, leaving Angemon half dazed on the ground, and a tree to be smashed by Ankylomon behind him. "Another one, and just as worthless as the Angemon if I remember it correctly."

Staring down at both digimon below, Blackwargreymon didn't feel anything as his formed another attack, aiming right at the two digimons, aiming to end the fight before it got to boring. "Terror Destroyer!" The red sphere of energy ripping into the ground as both Ankylomon and Angemon dived out of the way, tree chips and dirt flying everywhere along with red arcs of energy. "Enough, this fight is over, Terror Destroyer!"

Gasping loudly at the words, Cody grabbed onto TK and pulled him down, the boy letting out a surprised yell as he met a cold ground roughly. Then a shockwave of hot air rushed over him, along with a red light that made the hairs on his arms stand up. "What, what happened?"

Next to him, TK opened his eyes and sat up, one hand feeling like it could need some medical attention after he had landed on it. "We lost, that's what happened." Standing up and holding his hurt hand, TK watched the place where Blackwargreymon had been just a second, now nothing more then a burnt forest clearing. "Angemon!"

Groaning in response to the call, a small pink digimon wobbled up along the ground, his body looking like it had been run over a few times. "I'm okay TK, but he knocked me back into Togemon."

"Upamon!" Cradling the small digimon in his arms, Cody noted that TK were staring at him. "Are you happy, if you hadn't provoked him into fighting this wouldn't have happened."

Stumbling back at the accusation, TK bit his lip as he couldn't help but agree with it, Blackwargreymon hadn't wanted to fight them, but because of his stubbornness he had forced them to fight. "I'm, I'm sorry. I just."

Losing the angry glare, Cody shook his head to silence TK. "No, I should be the one to say I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you." Looking around the destroyed forest, Cody sighed as he shook his head once more. "Come on, we should try and get out of here, the others must have been lured into a fight as well."

Watching the younger boy walk away, TK still felt bad. No matter how friendly Cody put it, it didn't excuse the fact that he had messed up beyond anything else. "I'm sorry, I just didn't want another dark digimon to destroy everything."

In his arms, Togemon stared at his partner and offered up a small assuring smile. "I know you meant well TK, but you do have a anger problem." Feeling TK staring down at him with a more hurt expression, Togemon felt like slapping himself. "TK, I didn't mean it like that, look, next time, try not to let your emotions get the better of you okay."

Not answering at first, TK finally nodded just once and began to follow after Cody, but still feeling that he had messed up more then ever before in his life.

* * *

Not a single gust of wind had moved inside the chamber for a very long time, not since the door into the place had last been opened. But on this day, the door into the room did open as two humans and a plant type digimon walked in.

As they reached the foot of a massive dais, both of them stopped walking and instead began staring up at the dragon statue before them. It's stone body giving off a sense of the sheer power that had to belong to this digimon, even if no proof existed beyond a small glowing sphere stuck in one clawed up hand.

Pulling back his hood, Gennai, last of the guardians stared up at the face of the stone statue and gave off a rare smile at it as he took one step up onto the dais. "I apologize for my intrusion into your current sanctuary, but I've come in search of your guidance, Azulongmon."

As it a spell of life had been cast on it, the four eyes of the dragon statue began to glow with a faint white and blue light, its glow illumination the room far better then the light coming from the door. "You seek my knowledge, Gennai of the guardians."

Behind them, Catherine and Floramon kept their emotions under control even as they met the only one of the soverns that Gennai had ever personally met himself, the sovern digimon of the eastern part of the digital world, Azulongmon.

Next to her, Floramon's mind was running in circles as she wondered if falling to her knees before one of the four legendary digimons was required of her. Of if it would insult him to have as lowly a digimon as her bowing in this dingy chamber instead of inside the temple built to him.

"I understand Gennai, events are growing out of control again." Speaking more urgently, Azulongmon's statue came a slight cracking sound as its clawed up hand moved slowly and released the sphere held there. "The barrier around the virus is weakening, as it the one keeping out its avatar."

Nodding in agreement, Gennai sighed as he felt the sphere land safely within his hand, the power inside of it clearly felt by him. "If I do with this as you wish, won't the barrier fall anyway?"

Slowly losing their glow, the statues eyes dimmed as Azulongmon's voice faded as well. "The barrier is already too weak, a new one will have to be made, but before that, the old one must fall. Tell the digi destined to seek out my temple, and I shall explain it all to them there."

Behind them, Catherine slowly turned her head as a faint sound of footsteps reached her and her partner's ears. "Gennai, we're getting visitors." Pulling out her crest and digivice, she stared harshly into the darkness, as two figures slowly became clearer and clearer. "It's them, Babel's elite corps."

"Did you hear that, she knows us." Speaking in a heavily sarcastic voice, a female figure stopped right outside of the room exit, one hand reaching up to point right at them. "And so you also know that it is hopeless to defy us and our master."

Moving up to stand besides her, the second one laughed darkly as he moved a jagged staff into an attack position, his body looking more evil then the female digimon, even with the darkness covering it somewhat. "Hand over the sphere Gennai, and we will let the girl and her Floramon go free, if not, they will be deleted and you dragged off to Master Babel's base anyway."

Lifting up her second arm, the female digimon's eyes flashed bright red as she cast a deep and dark look over the figures before her. "Well Gennai, do you surrender, or shall we end this stand off with a messy death."

Gritting his teeth at the command, Gennai stared over at the two digimons before him, then over at Catherine as he gave a small nod in agreement. "I don't have much of a choice do I, but there is one thing I must do first." Seeing the two digimons turned their attention over onto him, Gennai grinned as he suddenly ripped out a small round object from his robe and tossed it at the doorway, the device breaking in half as it landed, allowing a thick smoke screen to form. "Catherine now!"

Reacting as fast as she could when Gennai gave his order, the French girl pulled out her digivice and crest, both of them glowing brightly in the dark room as Floramon gave a loud giggling sound as power rushed through her. "Floramon digivolve too, Kivimon, Kivimon digivolve too Blossomon!"

Pushing through the smoke screen, the female digimon had almost reached the other side when two of Blossomon's vines shut out and grabbed her, a quick toss sending her flying into the other digimon hard, knocking both of them over. "Spiral Flower!"

Splitting apart, the two digimons snarled as the area they had been in just a split second before were hit hard by Blossomon's attack, the ground getting cut up a bit. "Fool, you had your chance, now die!" Moving to rush forward, the female digimon screamed out in surprise as part of the doorway fell down, followed by another part and another one. "She broke the support for the roof, retreat!"

Glaring at them as the doorway collapsed completely, the second digimons let out a dark hiss as he moved his staff up into an attack stance. "We shall meet again, flower brat." Then he turned and left as well, but in a less rapid pace then his female partner.

Inside the room, Gennai sighed as he watched the only way out, now covered in a mountain of rubble. "Catherine, you did well, but now, it is time for the second part." Holding up the sphere for her to see, he slowly moved it down to another device pulled out form his robe. "I entrust this to you, get it the Digi Destined, and tell them to meet me on the locations described in the files I attached to this data unit."

Watching as the sphere was sucked into the device, the blond haired girl nodded as she was handed over the device. "And what shall I have done that, return to the house?" Her voice a bit strained as she watched Gennai stand up in his full height. "Gennai, you're not thinking off going to meet Babel are you?"

Shaking his head, Gennai smiled over at her for a few seconds, then he turned around. "I won't be doing that, no, I will doing something much worse." Walking over to a nearby wall, he stared at it for a minute. "Those new helpers of his, they were real digimons, but I can still sense that something is off about them, like they don't really belong in the digital world, and I must find out why that is."

Holding out a hand to stop her from asking any more questions, Gennai looked over at her with a grim expression. "You are progressing nicely in your training, but there are things you are not yet meant to know off, now go, I will use the gate after you have left to reach my own destination."

Nodding, Catherine kneeled down to pick up her other item, a small laptop used only as a gate device. "Till we meet again Gennai, good luck." Holding up her device, she gave off a real smile as she vanished into the gate, the laptop buzzing a bit before landing on the ground.

Walking over to the laptop, Gennai's smile vanished as he looked down at it. "Thank Catherine, I will need it." Pushing a few buttons, Gennai watched as the gat code opened up, his quick fingers adding in the changes to the gate he needed to enter another part of the digital world. "I just hope that he is in a good mood, otherwise things will really be looking down for me."

* * *

Flying low, but still rapidly across the digital plains, Paildramon and Silphymon kept a firm hold on their partners as they followed the traces left behind by Seadramon. "He went that way!"

Staring in the direction that Yolei had pointed out, Kari and Davis nodded and urged their partner digimons to head on a bit more.

"Davis, we should be more careful, something about this doesn't feel right." Muttering out the warning as he kept staring at the far to obvious signs left behind by the other digimon, the dark purple haired boy kept a firm grip on Paildramon's arm as they continue onward. "I think it's a trap."

Glancing over at Ken, Davis nodded in agreement as he too had been thinking the same thing, but still knowing that. "We have no choice, Seadramon might know something, and to find out we have to follow him even if its." Sopping his talk, Davis stared right ahead as Seadramon came into view, or rather what looked like Seadramon circled up around a rock pillar.

For one thing, he was much larger, and with a bright red body with black strips on it, a dark gray metallic mask over his head, a large jagged sword like horn protruding from it, and to finish it off, dark orange mane of hair moving lightly in the air.

Held tightly by Silphymon, Kari took in a deep breath of air as she could feel the darkness coming from this dark version of the sea dragon like digimon. "Davis, Ken, keep your distance, he's not the Seadramon we know."

Even before she had stopped talking, a dark laughter had filled the area as a figure with a tattered cloak came into view on the very top of the stone pillar. "We meet again Davis, Kari, Yolei." Briefly glancing at Ken, the figure grinned a bit darker as he turned halfway around to stare at five tied up persons lying out cold on the hard ground. "I already dealt with the others, all I need to do now, if wait for your brother to show up Hikari!"

Taking in a deep breath as she finally recognized the person standing before her with a tattered cloak whipping madly in the wind around him, Kari closed her eyes as Yolei gave loud gasp next to her, then she reopened them and asked the one thing she could think of. "Why Michael! Why are you doing this!"

Smirking up at them, the blond haired boy spread out his arms and grinned even more darkly. "Come now, isn't it clear to you, I'm using you and the others to lure Yagami here." Lifting up a hand, he traced a finger down over his chin in a slow way as he let out a dark hiss. "You Hikari, and that traitor Mimi will serve to bring him out into the open, and the rest of you will pay for siding with him as well."

Clenching up his fist as he finished talking, he grinned even more as he turned to leave. "Now, I suggest you surrender peacefully, or my new friends will be forced to; hurt you." Almost whispering out the last part, he quickly turned it into laughter as several dark shapes moved up from behind the stone pillar.

Smirking as both Kari and Yolei let out a hiss of surprise, the blond haired boy lifted up his arm in a commanding way. "Neodevimons, on my command, attack them!"

Frowning deeply, Davis quickly looked around for a place that Paildramon could dump off him and the others, for even if they had been able to stay on his back doing the last fight, this one wouldn't be the same. Not to mention that the place was already occupied by Jun at the moment.

Staring over at his friend, Davis gave off a halfhearted attempt at a smile. "So, got any ideas, I could really use one right about now."

TBC:

* * *

AN: There; that should have dealt with most of the older villains, and made room for the last batch to show up in this story. An end is coming, but it's still a good deal away.

Also, I got 87 hits for the last chapter, but only two reviewed it at all. Can that really be true? Nah, there must have been some fault in the review program, but I can at least let a "thank you" go out to those whom had their reviews come through.

Remember to visit my homepage, I finally updated it again. 


	19. Part XIX

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Summery: AU, very AU and dark, with mentioning of torture, violence and blood drinking.

Things have never looked grimmer, as digi destined goes up against digi destined. Have Michael really lost it and willingly joined the side of Darkness, and what is Babel's true motive for seeking to destroy all. And what of the mysterious virus that everyone fears, what is it secret, and how is it connected to events in the past.

Special note: 'Thoughts'

* * *

Spawn of the vampire  
The Final Temple Part 3

* * *

Pushing aside a bit of greenery, TK and Cody stared in muted surprise at what awaited them on the other side of it, their heads tilting backwards to gaze up at it. "What the heck is that?"

Several sharp points of black material jutted out of the ground before them, each one reaching rather high up into the sky while surrounding a dome shaped building. The whole place had signs of long time disrepair and traces of a battle all over it as a large hole had been blown in one side of it.

Tilting his head further back to see the top of it, Cody shrugged, as all he got out of it was a feeling of vertigo in his stomach and head from having to tilt his head too much backwards. "No idea, but it doesn't look like it was made by a digimon." As he spoke, Cody had lowered his head and stared at the wall before them.

Next to him, TK hissed as he began to get a far to annoying feeling of familiarity, the whole place getting on his nerves as he walked closer to the building and ran a hand over it surface. "No, I think it was built by a digimon, the question is, which one?"

Stepping back, the blond haired boy stared down the side of the dome as he narrowed his eyes. "And why I get the feeling of deja vü when I look at it?" Taking a step forward, he stopped and looked back at Cody who had also moved over to look closer at the building. "You coming?"

Startled out of his thoughts, the young boy turned around and began to follow after the older one, a deep look of thought on his face as he kept on gazing at the wall. "Hey TK, you also get the feeling that we're in a place where we shouldn't be?"

Not answering the question, TK merely frowned as Cody had managed to describe the emotion running through him perfectly, along with a gnawing feeling of deep anger at this place.

Rounding part of a black colored spire sticking out of the ground, TK stopped and clenched up his hands, pure hatred forming on his face at what he saw right before him. "It can't be, this place was destroyed four years ago." But there it was, he'd recognize that balcony anywhere, and the broken doors as well. "It's Piedmon's castle, but how?"

* * *

Back on earth, Babel grunted as he watched the computer screen light up, the faces of his new servants staring back at him from the other side of it. "Well, did you succeed in getting it?" His voice cold and hard, he watched as the female digimon shook her head in a slow and slightly unsure way. "I see, so who has it, I'm reading a total removable of the shield, so someone must have removed the digi core to break it."

Holding up a hand to silence them as they began to talk, Babel glared as hateful as he could at them. "Don't even brother to tell me, I can guess it perfectly well. Just stop him, and get it back, I am tired of this constant flow of failure I keep hearing about."

Standing up in a fluid motion, Babel picked up his laptop and glared down at it coldly. "Now listen up, I am going to open the gateway, and when I do, I expect you to have the digi core I need ready for my arrival." Closing the laptop, Babel snorted as he walked away from the park.

Never once seeing the eyes watching him, staring at him as he increased his pace, Babel kept walking as a feeling of victory filled him. Oikawa and his bouts of insanity be damned, he wasn't going to wait for him, he could rot up here on earth, dreaming of a place he had never been meant to enter.

Moving out of his hiding place, Mummymon smirked as he pulled out his cell phone, quickly punching in the number that would get him in touch with his boss. "Come on, pick it up." Mumbling out the phrase as he heard it ring, he grinned as it finally was answered by a gruff sounding voice. "Sorry boss, but Babel, he's going to open the gateway now. And I don't think he wanted to include you in his travel plans."

Getting a lightly scared expression as loud yelling and cursing could be heard over the phone, Mummymon quickly held it away from him as he massage his damaged ear. "Yes boss, I'll trail him, and inform you of where he is going, huh, what do you mean you know where he... Highton View Tarrence, I'll get over there right away boss."

Closing his phone, Mummymon grunted as he gave a small snort. "Well, it seems the alliance if finally over." Rushing off, Mummymon grinned as he kept up a steady pace, making sure to keep Babel with in his sight without getting seen himself.

* * *

While it was still a ruin, Piedmon's castle looked just a wicked and cruel as he remembered it too be since he had first seen it. And as far as he could guess, it had been buried about 2/3's into the ground, only the dome roof and the spires around it sticking up through the ground.

Walking through one of the many broken parts of the railing around the balcony, TK stared into the doorway, nothing but darkness greeting him as he tried to see though it. "This, I really don't like this Cody, it's feels like something evil is still here."

As he spoke, TK walked a single step forward and rubbed a hand over his shoulders, keeping a firm eye on the doorway before him, he finally sighed and took a deep breath before walking on into the darkness.

"TK?" Yelling out the words, Cody rushed in through the broken doorway as well, his eyes scanning the area around him as he too could feel the numbness in the air, and the feeling of something being out of place in this area.

As the outline of both boys faded away form the outside, a single giggling sound filled the air as a white colored shape flowed out of the ground, the giggling rapidly doubling as more and more joined the first one in hovering just before the doorway.

Floating to the front of them all, a much larger one grinned as he began to fly into the doorway, the many other shapes following in as each one stopped giggling like lunatics.

Catching up to TK, the young boy stared up at the blond, expecting to see the same angry expression on him as the time they had faced Backwargreymon, and while they had infiltrated Ken's base. But instead, TK had a calm and determined expression on his face as they walked through another set of doors, this time reaching a large open room. "Piedmon's throne."

Turning his head, Cody blinked as he spotted the large telescope and chair barely visible in their faint light illuminating the room. "Um, TK, have you seen enough yet, I really don't like this you know." As he spoke, he stared down into the deep darkness of the room and shivered as he could have sworn he had seen something move down there. "TK!"

Pulling himself out of a series of memories, TK hissed as he spun around, one hand pushing Cody backwards as he saw the digimons floating in through the doorway. "Great, Bakemons, let me guess, you have decided this place is yours now?" His voice full of anger as he spoke, TK stared over at his digimon partner, trying to see if he was up to digivolving again after the battle with Blackwargreymon. "Togemon!"

Awakening up from his resting place on TK's shoulder, the small pink digimon snarled at the sight of the Bakemons and quickly jumped down onto the ground. "Togemon digivovle too, Patamon!" Hovering up before TK, the brown and white digimon kept a fierce glare at the one who seemed to be the leader of the group.

Wakening up Upamon as well, Cody smiled as the small digimon yawned as he was pulled out from his resting place. "Upamon, you got to digivolve again." Voicing his request, Cody stared up at the Bakemons as they began to spread out into the room in order to surround them. "Please?"

Smiling as he jumped down onto the ground, Upamon responded by glowing brightly, the power of a digivolution flowing through him. "Upamon digivolve too, Armadillomon." Standing much large then Patamon, the newly digivolved digimon turned to regard his partner, already having noticed their current problem. "Cody, are you ready?"

"There will be no need for fighting, at least from you four."

Snapping his head around as the cold and very hateful voice, Both TK and Patamon stared as a figure seemingly emerged from the darkness of the room, long tattered wings reaching the floor even if they were curled up behind the digimons heavily muscled body. Both arms, bulging with muscles, were crossed over his chest as he stared at then with blood red eyes, a wicked smirk on his face. "After all, my little party favor here prevents that now that I have activated it again."

As he spoke, the inside of the room was lit up, a deep humming along with a mild electric surge flowed through the air as a tall dark object shimmered into view. "Now if you will kindly surrounded." Lifting up a hand as he spoke, he curled up his fingers as if he was going to snap them a second later. "Well?"

Behind TK, Cody hissed in anger as he gazed at the dark colored object, his eyes drawn to almost every part of it. "It is a control spire, which means, that we can only use armor digivolving in here,"

Eyes losing some of their burning hatred as a new fact made it through his anger, TK ran his eyes over the very well known digimon once more and finally returned his eyes to his face. "You're not Devimon are you, you look like him, but the colors off, you're far to white to be him."

Mouth curling up in a thoughtful manner, the digimon chuckled as he floated down from his vantage point, one hand tracing along the control spire. "Oh but I am a Devimon, just not one of the kind you must be thinking about." Giving a light, yet highly mocking bow to them, the digimon wiggled his finger in the air before them. "I am IceDevimon, an ice type virus digimon, my Zero Freeze attack will turn you all into frozen lumps of flesh. And trust me, you two are in a place that you really shouldn't be."

Turning halfway around to look down at the throne placed on the floor below, he smirked darkly as he lowered himself down to sit on it, one finger tracing along the armrest of the throne that the mighty Piedmon has once rested on. "After all, this is what is destined to become Master Babel's new home, once we get our special modifications to this place fixed."

Head moving up to regard them, Icedevimon smile faded as his eyes glowed bright red. "But why am I telling you fools this, you shouldn't be here at all, no, you should be with your friends, helping our new alley lure out the traitor." Snapping his finger, he smirked as the Bakemon moved in and cornered the two boys and digimons before they could move. "Not that I am complaining, it gives me something to do while the Bakemons down below finish their work."

Eyes turned from TK and Patamon, Icedevimon stared hard at Cody as the boy continued to squirm in the grip of a Bakemon, his eyes glowing with determination and laughter as he looked down at the icy type digimon. "And what is so funny to you human?"

Smirking as he gazed down at the digimon, Cody grinned as one finger snapped open the lid on his D-terminal, his other hand holding his digivice. "Nothing much, other then you made a classic mistake, talking to much to the leader while ignoring the sidekick."

Turning his eyes over to Armadillomon, Cody grinned as he yelled out the sentence he hadn't used for what felt like an eternity to him. "Digiarmor energize!"

Eyes snapping wide open at the words, Icedevimon turned to see the two Bakemons holding down the orange and heavily armored digimons get blown back as the power of an armor digivolving filled the room. "You little, stop them!"

"Too Late." Armadillomon spat out as he felt himself lifted up into the air, bits of armor data flowing into him along with an onrush of power. "Armadillomon, Armor digivolve too, Digmon, The champion of Knowledge!" Nor wasting as much as a second, the larger, armored, insect like digimon crossed his arms in front of him. "Cody, TK hang on this won't even take a second, Gold Rush!"

Shooting out ah and, Icedevimon called up the power within him, a pale light filling the air as the temperature dropped drastically in the room. "Oh no you don't, Zero Freeze!"

Impacting the drills halfway to their target, Icedevimon growled as only half of the attack had been stopped, the other drills covering the distance between them and the control spire far to fast for him to try another attack. "Damn it!"

Turning back to face Digmon, Icedevimon opened his mouth to yell out another command, when he saw Digmon preparing to use his second attack, his drills, those that had returned starting to spin loudly as the smaller digimon leaned over and hammered them into the floor. "Rock Cracking!"

Jumping back, the icy digimon cursed as parts of the balcony impacted the ground where he had just been standing, and more of them falling down with several loud bangs as they hit.

Pulling in on his power of coldness, Icedevimon smirked as he aimed it right as the now completely visible Digmon, the armored digimon staring at him with a look of defiance that he was sure would be wiped away when he was frozen solid.

Then he stopped as a much louder sound filled the air, the tip of the control spire letting out a showers of sparks as hair think cracks spread through the surface of it as Digmon's drills had finally torn right through it. "No. Not that! Stop him you fools, don't let that armored freak attack again."

Smirking, TK grabbed his own digivice after the Bakemons had dropped him onto the floor, all of them moving to carry out the order given to them by the icy digimon. "Oh yes, Go for it Patamon!" Holding up his digivice as he finished talking, he let out a laugh as power and light flowed from it. "Let's stop this jerk and whatever it is that Babel wants from this place! "

Nodding as he glowed from the power, Patamon allowed himself to digivolve again, free of the fear of his partner losing his temper. "Patamon Digivolves too, Angemon." Spinning around as he finished digivolving, Angemon let lose a blast of power, the beam of light ripping into the Bakemons converging onto Digmon. "And now for you."

Turning to face Icedevimon as the icy digimon had pulled himself free of the control spire, Angemon lifted up his staff. "Your Evil will end today, and this place and its evil will finally be laid to rest." Rushing forward, he le tout a war cry as he body slammed the icy digimon before him, sending him flying backwards into the control spire to add even more cracks to the ones already present. "Hand of Fate!"

Snapping his head up at the words and winching as it caused more pain to rip though his brain, Icedevimon spotted the beam of energy as it quickly travel the distance between him and Angemon. "Noo, master Babel!" Then it was over as he felt it cut through his chest, and into the control spire. "I, I failed."

Not looking one bit like he cared over the death of the digimon, TK looked around the room and noticed the remaining Bakemons fleeing the room. "Cody, are you okay?"

Pushing himself up from where he had been sitting since digivolving Digmon, the young boy turned his gaze over on TK and stared for a silent few minutes as he took in what had just happened. "TK, you, deleted him, a digimon."

Regarding the younger boy by looking over his shoulder, TK sighed and closed his eyes as he felt the accusation hidden within the sadness of Cody's words. "I had to, if I hadn't, he would have kept fighting us until we were dead." Walking away slowly at first, TK stopped at the doorway. "I don't like deleting digimons Cody, but four years ago, I learned that some digimons can't be bargained with, they won't listen to your pleas, or consider surrendering. They will fight, simply because they want too, just to gain whatever scrap of power they can obtain through force."

Facing the other side of the place, TK nodded a bit more to himself then the others. "Come on Code, we have to keep looking through this place, if Babel choose it as his base, there might be some information about his plans in here."

Lifting up his gaze, the younger boy watched the back of the older blond haired boy, his mind already trying to find out if TK had been wrong in saying that there had been no other choice but to delete Icedevimon.

* * *

Stepping off the bus, the tall non imposing figure of Babel pushed its way through a group of school kids returning from the city and continued towards his destination, a cold grin forming on his face as he took the first step onto the bridge spanning across the road below. "At long last, everything I have worked for will be for filled."

Opening the laptop, the young man grinned as the gate program loaded up and awaited the final input to fully unlock it for him. But already, he could see that even unlocked he would have no problem crossing over, it was just a matter of power to do so.

Removing his fake digivice form its resting place in his inner coat pocket, the purple haired man grinned as he placed it in its place, the three orbs he had already gotten glowing as they fit into place nicely. "Yes, now all I have to do, is wait for the gate to open from the other side, and then I can finally cross over."

"You mean we can cross over right?" Came a venom filled voice from behind, the even taller, gothic looking figure of Oikawa walking briskly towards the younger man, his stride matched by the one from the mummy like person next to him. "After all, we had a deal remember?"

Sneering darkly, Babel looked up to see Arukenimon standing on the other side of him, her mouth set into a smirk as she walked towards him a bit slower then the others. "It would be best for you to surrender now." As she spoke, her body twisted and transformed into her true, spider like digimon body. "After all, a weak human like you have no powers on your own."

Laughing insanely as he kept walking forward, Oikawa barely paid any attention to Mummymon's transformation, his whole focus instead on the small device in Babel's hand. "Osamu, you should trust me on this one, you don't want to double cross me, it's the worst thing one can do."

Pulling out his own laptop as he spoke, Oikawa grinned as he regarded the young man before him. "And really, didn't you ever consider that I too had a way into the digital world." Voice smooth as he opened the portable computer, he grinned as his own version of a gate program loaded. "And all I need to use it is power, power that you have so conveniently found."

Calmly observing as the final card icon slid into place, Oikawa regarded the man before him as he gave a dark grin. "And now if you will, hand over the digi cores."

Eyes smoldering with anger, Babel turned to regard Arukenimon behind him again, his mouth twisting into a dark smirk as he began to run his fingers over his keyboard, a quick set of commands getting written and sent in a few seconds. "I always thought of you as a mindless brute Oikawa, but this really nails it down, didn't you think that I got more then just Kimeramon's data from my younger brothers fortress."

Pushing the final button, he laughed harshly as the large body of Arukenimon began to convulse, her mouth opening to let out a scream as her eyes took on a dark red glow. "Impressive right, my own version of a Dark Spiral." As he spoke, the object in question slowly came into view as it formed on the spider digimons right arm. "It was so easy to replace that jewelry she was wearing with my brand new toy."

Regarding Oikawa with a more predator like grin, he halfway closed his laptop. "And as they say Oikawa, this is only the beginning."

Mouth set into a dark grimace, Oikawa watched Mummymon at his side, the lovesick digimon stared in horror at what had happened to her, one arm halfway lifted up to greet her. "You fool, do something about this, I won't let anyone stand in my way, not even Arukenimon!"

"But she." Muttering out the words, the bandage covered digimon stopped as Oikawa's eyes had taken on a red glow, his whole face twisted into a mask of pure hate and anger, the aura of pure evil almost floating off him in large waves. "Oikawa, what's wrong with you?"

Mouth twisting into a cruel smirk, the man lifted up one hand and grinned. "Oikawa, heh, I'm sorry but he isn't here right now." Regarding the young man across from him, he grinned as he took a step forward. "I should thank you before destroying you." Voice smooth and as cold as ice, the older purple haired man eyes narrowed into slits. "As you plotted against me, and sought to undermine my hosts goal, the one thing he and I shared, I allowed myself to feed on the power you've been carrying all this time."

Turning to face Mummymon, Oikawa closed the laptop in his hands and placed it on the ground. "Every little touch, every chance I had, I drained the power of the digi cores through you, gaining strength." Stopping his rant, he closed his eyes and allowed a more evil smile to form. "I had hope to obtain enough for the final part, but that wasn't the case, you made your move far to soon, and with this last trick, you have even succeed in forced me to show myself to everyone."

Snapping his eyes open, the purple haired man lunged forward and grabbed Mummymon's arms, his eyes opening even more as a dark cloud formed around his body. "And now, I see that in order to win this, I need a body that is able to fight."

Laughter filled the air as the darkness seeped into Mummymon, the bandage covered digimon screaming loudly as his eyes dimmed with each passing second, only to have them turn almost golden in color as the last darkness was swallowed up by his body. "Yes, yes, it's been a while since I last had a digital body, and despite the endless disgrace and weakness of this one, it will serve me for now."

His own eyes narrowed from having to listen to Oikawa's rant, and getting told the older man had been leeching power form him so openly. He was ready to rip out his throat, but this, this single thing changed everything. "Who are you?" Spitting out the words with a level of venom he hadn't even expected himself, he nearly snarled as the possessed digimon just regarded him much like he would regard an insect. "Never mind, Arukenimon, destroy him!"

Giving off a far more sinister smirk then ever, Mummymon's machine gun was flung up into an attack position, power already flowing out of it as the families twisting back of blue energy ripped out to rip across the ground, only this time it had taken on a deep red color, not unlike blood flowing from a wound. "You really think she can stop me now? I created her through Oikawa, she is my loyal servant!"

Hitting Arukenimon as she moved forward, the spider like digimon gave a loud shriek as she was pushed back, a large burn mark forcing on her upper body where the energy had hit her. "Acid Mist!" The attack flowing out of her mouth, hitting both the ground and the front part of Mummymon, the bandage digimon hissing as he jumped back. "Spider."

"Snake Bandage!" Firing off one of the attack of the digimon he had possessed, the possessed digimon watched as the attack ripped through the air and hit her right on, bandages pulling her arms down and pinning them at her side. The whole thing ending with the machine gun getting pointed right her unprotected head. "Now, do you surrender, or shall I reduce you to what he has become as well?"

Turning his head to the side, Babel regarded the crouching Oikawa fall to the ground; his body shaking as another shock went through it. "You won't get away with this, you know that right, I have far more resources then you." His voice rising as he yelled, the young man swung his laptop around, hitting the enter button as he smirked. "And like you, I won't just give up."

Mouth twisting into an angry snarl, Mummymon watched as the digital gate on the young mans laptop opened up, two twisted digimons emerging to land on the bridge before him. "You think this setback will stop me?" His voice cold, Mummymon turned his machinegun away from Arukenimon. "You can call up as many Neodevimons you want, it won't make any difference." Letting lose with a blast of dark power shaped much like a spear, Mummymon laughed as it blew through the spider digimon, her body convulsion once before shattering into digital data that was drawn down into his body. "For it is I who shall rule both worlds, Osamu Ichijoji, that is what the ancient texts said when I found them."

Lowering his head as power shot up from the bandaged digimon, Babel watched as his Noedevimons shot back through the air with loud curses, their bodies shattering into digital data as they impacted the ground. "You!" Stopping whatever he had meant to say, he stared as the mouthpiece of the machine gun was pointed right at him. "Who are you?"

Opening his mouth to reply, Mummymon stopped the motion as a pained look filled his eyes, his body convulsion as he began to stumble backwards. "No, not now, not here." Looking up with a pained expression, the bandaged covered digimon could only watched as Babel grabbed his laptop before running away. "Get back here, I want those digi cores, you hear me?"

Not looking back, Babel cursed as he turned a corner and moved away as fast as he could. No matter what had happened back there, he had to use this chance to get away, otherwise everything he had worked fore would be lost.

Still, the event back there had him confused, not to mention lightly scared. Oikawa had been possessed by someone, a digimon no doubt from the information it had let slip. But the question was now, which one, and what did it mean that it was destined to rule both worlds.

It was him who was destined to rule, that was the one thing he knew off. And as revenge against Gennai and the Soverns, he would rule their world and fill it with darkness and chaos. The very same thing the virus would enable him too; after all, he had created it to do just that.

To infect, and convert every single digimon into virus attributed digimons, along with the digital world itself. And through that, the balance that he had once fought so hard to preserve would finally be disrupted, and then and only then would his vengeance be complete.

* * *

Spitting out some dust, Taichi wiped the backside of his hand across his forehead; his eyes taking a chance look up at the sky above him as he blew out some of the hot air he had been walking through for far to long in his mind. "So, none of you have any idea where we can find some shade, water or even a digi gate?"

Scratching his head, Agumon gave a small sheepish grin as he looked up at his human partner, and the black furred digimon sitting on his shoulder. "Sorry Tai, but I'm not so sure about the layout of this region. I've made it to the meeting place because I knew where to go to meet you, but now that we have to go back, well, I'm not sure where we are anymore. Everything kind of looks the same out here"

Giving his best smile back at him, Tai reached out a hand and petted the young dino like digimon. "Hey its okay Agumon, really." Turning his attention to the digimon on his shoulder, or half digimon, Tai gave his best grin at her as well. "So, do you have any idea, you did choose this place for u to meet."

Blushing a bit with embarrassment, thankful that the dark colored fur on her hid it, Blackgatomon made her best apologetic smile at him. "Sorry, but I got here through the gate back there as well, so I have no idea what so ever about this region."

Tail lowering at the thought of disappointing him, her eyes half closed as the one thing she did know about came back to her. "Hey Tai, you should be more careful out here, Babel arrange for others to be here as well, such as Jun and Megadramon, and that boy you captured once, along with that girl you wanted as your queen."

"Her is name's Mimi, Blackgatomon, and what do you mean the boy I captured once?" Giving off a deep feeling of curiosity as he spoke, Tai gave her his full attention, just as Agumon did from where he was walking. "Why would he be here, wait, you said Babel arranged it, you mean he's working for him?"

Fully closing her eyes, Blackgatomon's tail puffed up as she recalled the time she had spent as Witchmon, serving Babel and working towards destroying the only one to have shown her true kindness. "Well, after you left, Babel was contacted by a man called Oikawa, they both wanted access to the digital world, but since Babel lacked the power to fight him, he brought me back, and sought out a replacement for you."

"I thought he used that girl, Jun was it to replace Tai." Agumon added in as he walked a bit faster to get up ahead of Tai and Blackgatomon to scan for danger. "So why'd he need all of you to help him? I can understand him bringing back you to fight against me, but turning to someone who would have no reason to trust him once he learned who he really is. That I don't understand."

Curling up her tail at the question, Blackgatomon gave a deep humming sound before lifting her head up to stare at the desert sky above them. "Things weren't going the way he had expected them to. Jun, Megadramon, Arukenimon, Mummymon and Saberdramon, all of them had failed, even together at once, they had failed."

Tai nodded at the explanation form his second partner, a frown settling onto his face as he thought about it. "He needed someone who wasn't expected to fight against the digi destined, someone they would trust." Clenching up his hands, Tai snarled as his eyes nearly flashed with his anger. "He chose the one person out there who knew them, but had a good reason for hating them."

"And it's all because of me, that it could happen." Muttering out the words as his anger faded away as fast as it had grown, the messy haired boy sighed and wiped his forehead one more time. "Isn't there anything I did doing my time working for that maniac that won't come back to haunt me?"

Giving the cat version of a shrug, Blackgatomon jumped down from Tai shoulder, landing on the ground with ease as she walked forward with her tail held up high into the air. "We have both done things we regret Tai, but really, all you can do right now is hope to fix the problems you caused, and learn from them instead of letting it keep you down."

Opening his mouth to reply, Tai stopped as a loud beeping reached him from his left side pocket, a small light flashing from his newly acquired D-terminal. "Oh yeah, I forgot I had this thing" Flipping open the lid, Tai gave a small sigh as he was a bit lost at the sight of its controls. "Okay, I think it was this button to press if I wanted to read the new mail."

Watching as the mail opened with a smile on his face, it quickly faded as the contents in the mail downloaded. "He has them." Voice cold with anger as he spoke, Tai could only stare at the small, attached picture of the digi destined all tied up to a rock, with two lines of text inviting to him to come and save them written below it. And all of it was sighed by. "Michael, he has my sister and Mimi!"

* * *

Stepping through yet another door, TK gave of a whistle at the sight that greeted him and Patamon. "Well, looks like there really was something in here after all." Stepping further into the room, the young blond haired boy swept his gaze across the countless console and monitors lining the three walls around him. "But what is it all for?"

Entering the room behind him, Cody cast a just as impressed look around the place as TK had, his eyes stopping on a nearby screen showing the one thing he hadn't wanted it to. "TK, I think we might be in trouble, someone has been watching us."

"Indeed I have Digi Brats." Turning to face the one who had spoken, both of the kids and the digimons froze as the smiling visage of a tall and imposing digimon covered in a deep shadow greeted them from the doorway. "I must say I was impressed at what you did to that idiot Icedevimon, far to arrogant of a digimon if you ask me, but then again, he showed me just what you two can do."

Grabbing for his digivice, TK blinked, as he felt nothing but empty air where it should have been. "What the." Turning to look for it, he stopped as a Bakemon floated away from him, the small device held in its hands. "Hey, give it back you jerk"

Stepping into the room as the main threat had been removed, the digimon became more clear as the light fell on it, it's body nothing more then a collection of bones with a pair of leather pants on the lover body and metal sphere with a bat motif inside his chest. "Very well, Master Babel shall be pleased with your capture, even with the tragic loss of a minor servant such as Icedevimon in the process."

Backing off as more Bakemons floated in through the walls, TK clenched up his hands as he noticed Cody and Armadillomon had been corned completely and taken captive. "You, who are you anyway?"

Giving his best smile even with a skull for a head, the digimon held out his staff and pointed it at TK and Patamon before him. "Me, I'm Skullsatamon, a ghost type digimon, and my Nail Bone attack will blow anyone who crosses my path, understand"

Filing away the name for later, TK simply nodded as he felt the other ghost type digimons closing in and grabbing his arms harshly, pain flowing through him as they were twisted around to his back. "So what are you going to do with us?"

"Good Question kid, sadly that up to Babel to decide, not me." Smiling as he walked over to sit at the consoles, the ghost digimon looked at each kid in turn. "But for now, I think I can safely have you and your friends tossed into a jail cell, and trust me kid, without your digivices, you two aren't getting out of here."

* * *

Stumbling out of the gate, a young blond haired girl cursed as she found herself just outside of the final temple, her gate transport somehow having been disrupted leaving her to emerge in the worst place she could think off.

At her side, her digimon partner shared the emotions of her human friend and quickly began to move forward, knowing just how important it was for them to reach safety before their followers caught up with them.

Taking a step forward, she stopped as the sound of feet hitting the ground echoed out from behind her, the same female digimon she had met inside of the temple walked out into the light, ragged black wings twitching as the digimon smirked at the sight of the young girl. "You are not getting it, you hear me, I promised Gennai to deliver it to the digi destined, and I intend to keep that promise."

Holding up one hand to casually shut her up, the female digimon allowed her fanged smile to faded away as she began to walk forward again. "Girl, I don't care about Gennai, your promise or any of the digi destined." Her voice full of scorn as she talked, the female digimon stopped just a few meters away as she crossed both her arms across her chest. "I work for master Babel because I have been instructed to do so, and he wants me to bring him that digi core, so he can carry out his part of the bargain."

Mentally groaning at the thought of yet another dark force entering into the mess, Catherine began to back up, her movement stopped as she Floramon tense up next to her. "I see your friend decided to play along as well." Keeping her voice as level headed as she could, the blond haired girl didn't have to turn her head to see she was in trouble.

No, the large shadow covering the area and her did it, of course the loud impact telling her that whatever the digimon was, it out classed both her and Floramon in size, and strength. "So, where is your other friend, the one who was with you inside the temple?"

"You mean Skullsatamon?" Came the quick reply as the digimon snapped out a hand and grinned as several bats formed in the air around her. "He wasn't needed for this little capture anyway, so he decided to return and check up on the little intruder alert we got while leaving the temple."

Mouth become a thin line from anger alone, Catherine hand slowly began to move towards he digivice, stopping as the digimon moved her hand in the direction of it. The bats moving forward as their mouths opened up to reveal small, needle sharp fangs. "Who are you?"

Tilting her head lightly to the side, the digimon smirked casually as she allowed the question to run through her mind a second time. "Hmm, I'm LadyDevimon, an Ultimate level evil digimon, my Darkness Wave attack will rip your bodies to shreds if I so desire."

Nodding with her head at the large shadow, she grinned as Catherine dared to look over her shoulder to see a massive devil like digimon with large tentacles sticking out of his back grin down at her. "He's MarineDevimon, also an Ultimate level digimon, his Dark Deluge will dissolve your flesh if it hits you."

Lowering her gaze back at the girl, she made a come hinter motion with her hands. "And now, hand over the core, of you will die here and now, and we'll recover it from your body." Mouth lighting up with a sadistic grin, the devil like woman moved forward as her hand curled up and her bats began to swarm closer to the blond haired girl and her partner digimon. "Well, do you wish to die here?"

Eyeing her partner as the question were spoken, the plant type digimon shuddered as she knew deep down that no matter what they did, they were going to be in so much trouble. But what concerned her the most, was the look in her partners, her friends eyes. "Catherine?"

Slowly dropping her digivice, her eyes closing as her other hand opened to reveal the device handed over to her by Gennai, the sign of his trust in her. "I, I'm sorry Gennai, Floramon." Dropping it onto the ground as well, the blond haired girl fell to her knees as the knowledge of her failure filled her with a heart full of despair and self-loathing. "I'm so sorry."

Fully smirking, LadyDevimon watched as her bats soared forward, confiscating the digivice and the digi core holding device for her. "Wise choice girl, and rather futile, death would have been an improvement over what will be facing you now."

Her head snapping up, Catherine screamed as the bats flew right at her, mouths fully open with their razor sharp fangs glinting as they closed in on her.

* * *

Stepping out of the gateway, Gennai shivered as he was assaulted by a wave of cold air, the wind itself giving of a feeling of malice and hate. "The Dark Area."

Muttering out its name, Gennai swept his eyes across the inverted landscape, the normally vibrant colored view of a world turned upside down, as what should have been bright and happy, were dark and gloomy. The feeling of utter despair by the digimons trapped in this place after their final deletion clearly felt.

Turning from the sight of a distance black ocean, Gennai swept his gaze up at the towering ruin behind him, the whole thing looking as if a war had moved through it. "Here's hoping that he is in a good mood." Stepping over the first bit of rubble in his path, Gennai tucked his hood up over his head, trusting it to hide as much of the depressing world as it could.

Unfortunately his presence had been noticed, by a towering figure hovering in the air above the area, this one dressed in an elaborate red robe with gold trimmings, a cone shaped hood covering everything but the eyes, which glowed with a lazy purple/blue color. From his back large, bat like wings were neatly folded up. "Gennai, last member of the digital guardians, he was right about you coming here it seems."

Stepping across the rubble as well, the digimon quickly tired of it and simply took to the air, hovering silently through it as he gazed down at the ruin below. "You will not disturb my plan, not when the outcome I crave is so close." Hand lighting up with fire, a dark chuckle filled the air as it blazed every brighter. "This I promise, as surely as I am Daemon, and my Flame Inferno will burn everyone and everything who gets in my way."

Having stepped into the ruined building, Gennai stopped as long time unused guardians instincts kicked in, his eyes narrowing as the desire to bolt out of the place grew ever bigger. "Who?" Turning around and moving forward as the need grew bigger, he cursed as he barely made it out in time, brightly colored fire ripping across stone and wooden parts with ever growing pressure.

Tumbling across ground and dirt as another burst of the hot flames nearly singed him, Gennai stopped as he impacted a broken pillar half buried in a patch gray colored grass. "Damn, got to work on that." Sitting up while muttering out the mental reminder, Gennai stopped as the red robed digimon landed before him. "A Daemon. Well, this is a surprise."

Suppressing a chuckle but still giving off an amuse smirk as his eyes narrowed with it, Daemon lifted up his hands as more fire formed around them. "We meet at last Gennai, though I won't be offended if you have never heard of me before." Keeping his voice level and calm as he was used to do, the robe wearing digimon moved closer to Gennai as the digital human stood up to better face him.

Not able to hide the confusemeant he felt from getting recognized by a digimon from the Dark Area, he did manage to suppress it after a second or two, replacing it with a colder look at the digimon. "You're one working with him, the one who supplied Babel, no Osamu with those digimons."

Still smirking behind his cone shaped hood, Daemon lifted up his hand and shot off a blast of fire, lighting up the ground behind Gennai with a blaze. "Correct, however, my knowledge of you goes back even further, to the moment before my banishment."

"So you say, but when was it, doing the rule of the Dark Masters? The second arrival of Apocalymon, or even when." Stopping his questioning rant, Gennai focused as hard a glare as he could at the digimon before him. "You were the one working together with Millenniummon?"

Letting a small laugh escape him, Daemon stepped even closer and enjoyed the fear filled glance that briefly flicked through Gennai's eyes. "Correct, that was me, and when he lost that battle in the desert, I was stuck here while seeking more digimons to be revived, and as I had no chance to return to his side because of the restored Balance between the worlds, I've been waiting for a opportunity like this to present itself."

Letting this information sink in, Gennai could already guess what the whole deal was about then. "So, LadyDevimon and SkullSatamon whom I have already met were from the Dark Area?" Gazing up at Daemon with anger, Gennai got ready to return back the way he had come. "And your side of the bargain is your freedom I take it, with a slice of the corrupted Digital World thrown in as well."

Laughing at that comment, Daemon eyes narrowed in a show of dark amusement. "Really Gennai, just seeking a small slice of it, what do you take me for, a member of the Dark Master?" Regaining his foreboding stance, the tall digimon literally glowed with raw dark energies. "I seek something which will give me the power to rule all three worlds at once, you could call it a spore of darkness almost, as it powers will help me grow even greater and more evil then now."

Backing off, Gennai quickly turned to leave when he felt the air turn even hotter, fire streaming past him to relight the almost died out fire from the previous attack. "It is rude to just leave like that Gennai, you don't expect me to just tell you all of this and let you pass it on to the digi destined, do you?"

Looming up over Gennai, a massive hand grabbed the front of Gennai's robe and pulled him up to stare right into those purple blue eyes. "Babel asked me to capture you when you came to Anubimon for answers, and what eh has in store for you, makes a death by my hands seem like a picnic in comparison."

Cringing back to avoid the horrible laugh and feeling of dread washing over him, Gennai could only stare at the ruined building as he was dragged off. His only remaining hope that Anubimon would show up and save him, but also knowing that it was a slim hope, the Dark Area was vast, and the caretaker and unquestioned guardian of the place was always on the move.

Only returning to his ruined home to reside for a day every now and then.

Resigning himself to his current fate, Gennai slowly began to think of ways to avoid the fate in store for him, wondering if he could escape through the temporary gate Babel would most likely create for him to pass over through.

* * *

Walking across the last part of the rocky desert area, Tai, Agumon and Blackgatomon stopped as they reached the end of the path literally. "Wonderful, now what do we do? None of us can fly." Muttering out the words as he took in the very deep plunge he'd make if he just stepped a few feet forward, Tai narrowed his eyes in anger.

From her position on Agumon's back, Blackgatomon smirked a bit as she jumped off to walk over and gaze into the cloudless distance. "I don't think we need to walk anymore Taichi, the blond haired bum is over there." Lifting up one glove covered paw to point in the correct direction with as she finished talking.

Settling in next to her, Agumon narrowed his own eyes as he stared into the horizon as well, successfully spotting a large stone pillar rising up from the ground deep below. "She's right, and I think I can see the others there as well, but I can't see the blond haired bum anywhere."

"Um Agumon, that's cause he's above us now." Tai replied as he and Blackgatomon tilted their heads backwards in order to stare up at the massive digimon hovering in the air before them. "Great, he's got an ultimate level digimon this time around. Just what we need to soon after our last fight."

Having the decency to blush at that comment, Blackgatomon quickly shook her head and moved closer to Tai, just in case he needed her help, her move matched by Agumon who took up position on the other side of the messy haired boy. "Okay dino, we need to work together for this one, the blond haired bum so much as look at Tai with a hostile glare, we get him to safety first, then we kick the serpents behind."

Leveling a look full of doubt at her, Agumon coughed lightly as he regarded the boy stepping into sight on the back of the flying sea dragon like digimon. "Great plan, just one question though, where do we drag him too, the neatest thing to hide behind is two hundred meters that way."

Lowering his attention away from Michael to the talking digimons standing beside him, Tai narrowed his eyes. "And what makes you two think I will let you drag me off?" Closing his eyes as he finished the sentence, the messy haired boy fought down a surge of anger as he thought of Kari and Mimi being held as prisoners by Michael. "In fact, I want you two to get ready to mop the floor with him, and his oversized snake of a digimon."

"My, my. Such a friendly way to talk about me Yagami!" Came the arrogant respond form above as the blond haired boy watched the boy below him with a heavily judging expression in his eyes. "I'm surprised a monster like you would even show up to save those traitors."

Both hands clenching up hard enough to draw blood, Tai watched as the large red and black digimon lowered itself down enough for his passenger to jump off his back. "I am not a monster, not anymore, I'm changed." Spitting out the words as soon as he saw the blond haired boy pay attention to him again, Tai gave a small hand motion to Blackgatomon.

Shooting a disbelieving frown across the distance between them, Michael shook his head and crossed his arms across the chest in a defiant and non-trusting manner. "I'm sure you have, but don't forget, I have seen your true self, and I know a monster like that can never be forgiven for its crimes, least of all for what you did to me, and to Mimi."

Eyes flashing at the way the other boy spoke of Mimi, Tai snapped out a finger to point at the blond haired boy as he felt his anger take over. "Leave her out of it, she not a part of this, and neither is my sister and her friends."

"You're wrong." Michael replied in a soft voice as he clenched up his own hands, eyes flashing with the same amount of anger as Tai had in his. "They have everything to do with this. After all, they have been protecting you, accepting you as one of them, instead of meeting out a fitting punishment for your crimes!"

Wind sweeping across the hot rocky surface in the silence that followed Michael's outburst, it also ruffled through both boys hair as they watched each other across the distance, their faces both showing great deal of anger towards the other one. "And so here we are Yagami, this is where you pay for all you have done to me, every last bit of it."

Eyes narrowed as well, Tai cast a quick look over at the rock pillar that had all the digi destined on it, the thing barely visible in the distance. "We'll see Michael, but since I am here as you requested, you don't need them anymore, so let them go."

Eyes narrowing in a superior way, the blond haired boy gave a small chuckle as he looked at the messy haired across from him with a shine of insanity in his eyes. "Really funny there Yagami, but honestly, why should I? They are just as guilty as you are, since they didn't punish you for what you did to me!"" Snapping out a finger to point at him, he gave a small chuckle as his digimon partner rose up into the air behind him. "And now Yagami, the time for petty small talk is over and its time for action. Waruseadramon, destroy him and those two loser digimons of his!"

Letting out a roar full of bloodlust at the order, the red and black colored sea dragon like digimon swooped down from the sky, its eyes glowing with a hunger for fresh meat.

TBC:

AN: Messy, messy, that's what goes through my head as I look back at this chapter, I can't help but fell that I am running around in a giant circle here trying to make it all fit together without a real good way to do it, but I am trying. Cody and TK looks like they have been cast aside, but they will be learning some important stuff, and as Tai and Michael duke it out in a climatic battle Babel arrives in the digital world at long last.

---

Review Respond: All right, seven new reviews since the last chapter, makes me feel good enough to respond to them.

seal-chan: Hope you liked the chapter, and thanks for thinking my story is cool.

Crimson Blademaster: Thanks for the review, but I didn't left it hanging, I've been having a mild writers block, and some real life things demanding my attention, plus I am working on two other stories as well, so just wait patiently, a new chapter will be coming out.

Firehedgehog: Thanks for the review; hope you liked the new chapter.

Anthropomorphizer: Welcome to, and I am glad you liked my story. I hope this chapter lived up to what you expected from it.

sleepy kitty : Thanks, and trust me, she will be playing a role in this story, and not just get reduced to being a sidekick with all the answers.

Fruitloop Trooper: Thanks for the review, and I'll try to avoid letting my story drag out.

sweet-haret179: Neither am I, but I hoping to change it. And thanks for the review.


	20. Part XX

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Summery: AU, very AU and dark, with mentioning of torture, violence and blood drinking.

Things have never looked grimmer, as digi destined goes up against digi destined. Have Michael really lost it all and willingly joined the side of Darkness, and what is Babel's true motive for seeking to destroy all. And what of the mysterious virus that everyone fears, what is it secret, and how is it connected to events in the past.

Special note: 'Thoughts'

* * *

Spawn of the vampire  
The Final Temple Part 4

* * *

Jumping back, Tai did a pretty good job of tumbling over backwards as a very large jaw set snapped shut where he had been just as a few seconds ago. Besides him, he could see Blackgatomon and Agumon rushing out to attack Waruseadramon from both sides.

Then his instincts kicked in to save him again as he rolled around to avoid the large tail crashing down where he had been lying. "Guys, do your best, we can't lose this!" Yelling out the sentence as he rushed back up to his feet, the messy haired boy had already grabbed his only digivice, the device letting off a loud high pitched sound as light shot out from it.

Tensing up as he felt power reach him, Agumon let out a roar as he went into his evolution phase. "Agumon digivolves too, Greymon!" His much larger body sending off a more powerful roar as several fireballs was sent flying right towards Waruseadramon's left flank.

Sadly, the fireballs did nothing more then leave a small scratch on the sea dragon like digimons body. More so, it did serve to increase the desire Waruseadramon had to destroy those stupid digimons and crush the human boy as his master had demanded off him. "Dark Blast!"

Which lead him to up the battle by letting lose with one of his own attacks, long arcs of black lighting shooting forward from his horn, a stench of ozone filling the air as it ripped into the earth, rocky parts from the blast point striking Greymon who had barely managed to avoid the main attack itself.

"Good shot Waruseadramon, now deal with the fur ball!" Michael yelled out as he took in the massive digimon falling down after barely getting hit by his own digimons attack. "Humph, at this rate, I don't think we even needed to have you as an ultimate level digimon." Came the muttered out comment as he focused his attention on Blackgatomon, the small feline digimon hissing loudly as she prepared to fight. "Still, why take any chances, evil deserves to be punished as harshly as it can."

Glaring across the distance separating them at that comment, Tai narrowed his eyes and lifted up one hand, grabbing the crest hanging around his neck as a means of lowering his anger. "You call us evil, you're the one who turned on your friends without a reason, at least I can say I was controlled."

Letting lose a snarl as the words reached him, Michael snapped out one finger and pointed it right at Tai as he narrowed his own eyes. "I have every right in the world, they sided with you, letting you get off without punishment for your crimes against countless digimons, not to mention what you did to Mimi, and me." Grabbing his digivice and holding it up to show the pale purple glow around it, he laughed as he pointed it forward. "And with this gift, I shall do what they failed to do, I'll punish you, with the toughest judgment I can think off, namely death."

Turning his head to the side, he stared at the group of digi destined tied up in the distance. "As for them, I will punish them as well, but I won't kill them, they proved they aren't as corrupt as you." Letting off a dark chuckle as he crossed his arms, the blond haired boy focused his gaze on Waruseadramon flying back up into the air. "Some of them even tried to fight me just as you do now, but even they knew to surrender when I threatened their friends. But that mercy won't be extended to you, now Waruseadramon, finish it!"

"You're right." Tai spat out as he stood up, one hand closed firmly around his digivice while the other one pulled out his crest. "It's time to finish this, no more hiding, no more trying to bottle up my feelings on what I did. I was a monster, I can admit that." Clenching up his hand around the crest, he let off a sad smile as he gazed at Michael. "And for what it's worth, I'm sorry for what I did to you and would accept whatever punishment you feel is right, but right now, I can't let you continue this madness, Blackgatomon, Agumon, do your best!"

Clenching his eyes shut as a bright orange light shot out from Tai, Michael let out a scream of frustration, as he couldn't see Waruseadramon, but clearly heard the large digimon roar in anger as the light blinded him. "What are you doing fool, just accept your punishment and get it over with!"

"No." Greymon spoke out as he stood up from where he had been pushed, his body showing a large cut on the side from where he had been hit. "I trust my partner, and no matter what he has done, I know he's not like that anymore, I trust him and I will protect him no matter what!"

"What he said." Blackgatomon added as she stood up on her hind legs, one glove covered hand held up in front of her in a confident stance. "Even I could see he wasn't a monster when he worked for master Babel, just as I know this is the real you we're facing."

Voice merging as they spoke again, Both Greymon and Blackgatomon glowed gently as they smiled. "We trust him, and we will do whatever we have to protect him, even if it means taking on someone stronger then us."

Removing his hand from his crest, Tai opened his eyes and smiled as he felt a new Wight in his hand, fingers closing in around a familiar shaped device. "Thanks, my friends, now, let's give it our best!" Holding out both hands, he grinned as he saw the new digivice he had just received along with his old one let out a loud whine, orange light streaming from each one.

Stiffing as new power flowed through them, Blackgatomon giggled as she felt her body grew more powerful, her mind finally accepting the fact that she was no longer a beta version of a fake digimon, but a real one, like she wanted to be.

On the other side, Greymon had felt power like that before, but still; this one came with both a new sensation, and with the same old resolve as the one he had always had. He would protect Tai until the very end, and help him overcome whatever it was he had gone through in the past.

"Blackgatomon!"

"Greymon!"

"DNA Digivolve too..." Taking off from the ground, their bodies reduced to their basic data components wrapped in light and power, the digimons felt their mind merging together. Their data wrapping around each other and accepting the best from both of them, shaping a new body from their old one.

The new body holding the power of both Greymon and Blackgatomon combined with the tough defense and power of the dinosaur like digimon, but also possessing Blackgatomon's speed and agility to match it. "Knightmon!" Standing before Tai, the newly DNA digivolved digimon glared up at Seadramon as he swung a heavy broadsword through the air, his golden colored shield gleaming as it hit the light. "Well, shall we finish this?"

The dual voice making even Tai blink as the digimon did a formal salute to Waruseadramon by holding up his sword in front of him with the flat side facing the sea dragon like digimon. "They, became one?" His question passing by unheard as the digimons once more went into battle against each other.

* * *

Quickly running his bony fingers across the control panels, Skullsatamon didn't even look up from his task as the doors behind him opened up, instead, he just grunted as he could make out the faint sound of someone struggling to escape a tight hold. "I take it you secured the final orb then, Ladydevimon?"

From behind him, the female, devil like digimon simply grumbled as she placed the mentioned item onto a small pedestal that emerged from the floor, its glow illuminating a small area of the room around it. "Of course, not even Gennai's little stunt could prevent me from completing the mission, now, what about you, did you capture the intruders?"

Turning away form his job, the undead digimon chuckled as he lifted up the spoils of war, two digivices and D-terminals he had placed on the only free space at the control panels. "It was, satisfying, too bad the fool Icedevimon didn't make it, but then again, he was only a champion level digimon. Hardly worth the attention of our great leader, or the effort put into freeing him from the Dark Area."

Returning to his work, he cast a quick look over his shoulder and gazed at the young tied up blond haired girl struggling to get free from Ladydevimon arm. "You can dump her and her digimon partner with the other digi destined down in the cells"

Giving a deep snorting sound as she turned to leave, Ladydevimon stopped as curious glance moved across the room. "Funny thing really, of all places in the digital world, he had to chose this place as his base of operations." A chuckle filling the air as she left the room, past memories filling her as she lifted up her free arm. "But unlike four years ago, I am stronger and sure to win against them."

Her small ranting coming to a stop as she found herself facing a broken statue of the first digimons he had ever served out of free will, his arrogant face locked in the cruel smile she could still remember. "Piedmon, such a powerful digimon, but against my new master, he seems so low level."Wandering further into the place, she chuckled as she passed the statues of the greatest threat to the digital world in the past, each one depicting a digimon known for cruelty and unrelenting ambition. Machinedramon, Puppetmon and Metalseadramon, their statues showing how they looked like, if not their true size, and in her mind, they also showed how worthless each of them had been.

But as Ladydevimon also knew, the dark masters were nothing like those she worked for now, their ambitions had stopped with securing control of the Digital World. While her new master wanted to do more, he wanted to corrupt it, and send it into the deepest darkness he could think off.

And in the end, it would be him as the supreme ruler of it all, the Digital World, the Dark Area, and the Real World. And for her, there would surely be a big slice of both digital and real world land to lord over as her own

Best of it all, with all other opposing forces soon eradicated, no one could stop them from achieving it, no one.

* * *

Twisting to the side to avoid the broad sword, Waruseadramon hissed as the knight like digimon's shield was hammered into his stomach, the blow jarring him as he twisted back up into the air, power once more flowing from him as he aimed his front body downwards again. "Dark Blast!"

Reacting faster then a heavily armored digimon like him should have been capable off, Knighthood held up his shield to defend himself with, it's metal gleaming in the light as the black colored light bolt hit it, the force ripping through Knightmon's armor and shield as it worked as a perfect conductor. "Arrggggg!"

Stumbling back and cursing the sea dragon like digimon for making such an unexpected attack, he watched as Waruseadramon shot forward again, body twisting around until it was flying in a direct path towards Knightmon, black lighting running across his metallic horn as his eyes glowed with sheer blood lust. "Dark Blast!"

Only this time, Knightmon proved to have learned from his last attempt, and moved aside as the lighting blast ripped through the space he had just been in, ozone filling the air as the broad sword was lifted up into the air above him, the metal glinting as it was swung downwards. "Berserk Sword!"

Staring with a lightly horrified expression at what happened, Michael felt pure hate well up in him as Waruseadramon twisted up into the air with a large gash in his side, digimon blood dripping as the sea dragon like digimon twisted around and curled up, dark power drawing in around the red and black body as saliva began to drop from his mouth. "Waruseadramon, use your final attack!"

"Poison Wave!" Roaring out in confirmation, Waruseadramon snapped open his jaws and let lose with a stream of sickly colored purple liquid. A foul stench following as the first few drops hit the ground and caused it to hiss and melt as the full brunt of the liquid hit and were quickly directed towards Knightmon.

The tall and imposing digimon cursing as he held out his shield for protection, hoping that this time around it wouldn't conduct the full power of the attack through him, but rather, would keep him safe from harm.

And so it did, but as Knightmon could feel as the pressure on it increase, but it would only be a question of seconds before the corrosive liquid destroyed it completely as he could already see parts of the metal melting. "Tai, we could use some help here, try and distract him will you!"

Off to the side, the messy haired boy shook his head at the comments and turned to regard Waruseadramon as the large digimon snapped open his mouth to fire off another round of the toxic liquid at his partner. "Gotta distract him, but how?"

Even as he thought of it, he stared his digimon grunt and using his shield for protection again, the metallic object almost getting completely destroyed. "I see, there is only one way to do this." Stepping forward, Tai gulped as he briefly saw himself get dissolved for what he was about to do. "Hey, ugly! Why don't you pick on someone smaller then you? You might just win for once you know!"

Roaring out in rage at the insult from the human boy, Waruseadramon caught off his poison wave attack and snapped shut his jaws, black lighting cursing across his horn as he began to move forward. "Dark Blast!"

"The Duel!" Smashing into Waruseadramon's side, Knightmon lashed out with his sword as he grabbed a hold of the large digimon's fin, his sword cutting another gash into the side of him as the dark lighting attack went sailing over Tai who had tossed himself down on the ground. "Um, Sorry!"

Glaring up as several tons worth of digimon sailed overhead of him, Tai grumbled as he grabbed his digivices and held onto them tightly. "Don't waste your time, finish this fight, we still have to save the others, and without killing me I hope."

Ignoring the muttered out comment in the end, Knightmon pulled himself up onto Waruseadramon's back, a feat made difficult by the sea dragon like digimon twisting around to knock him off. "This is for you Taichi!" Holding up his sword as Waruseadramon went into a steep dive, Knightmon forced as much of his power into the move as he dared. "Berserk Sword!"

His strike hitting the back of the larger digimons head with a loud metallic clang that was easily heard by Michael, just as the blond haired boy saw his digimon's eyes glaze over. "I can't believe this you bastard, your digimon just killed Waruseadramon! How can anyone even think of trusting a monster like you?"

Jumping off as the large digimon hit the ground and started glowing, Knightmon grunted as he finished his own fall and landed upside down, his sword sticking out of the ground nearby. "We haven't killed him, he's still alive. We just knocked him out." Pushing himself up as he spoke, Knightmon ripped his sword out of the ground and faced the blond haired boy with a defiant glare. "However, if you intend to continue this battle, we will be forced to use a more final way of stopping you."

Behind him, Betamon struggled back onto his feet as several hours worth of dark energy infusion combined with a heavy fight hit him. "Michael, I failed you, I'm sorry." Tumbling over, the digimon let out grunt as he fainted.

Clenching up one fist at his partner comment, Michael snarled as he lashed out a finger and pointed it at Tai. "Don't think this is over yet, I'll be back to punish you, that is a promise." Turning around, he watched as two Neodevimons shot up from their hiding places, one grabbing onto him while another one swooped in an picked up Betamon before Knightmon could react. "Until next time Taichi Yagami."

Glaring after him as he felt his heart slow down, Tai gave a small grin up at Knightmon as the large digimon walked over to him. "You did good, both of you, um, you will be able to change back won't you?"

"Of course we will, but right now we have a far more important question." Knightmon replied as he turned to face the rock pillar holding the other digi destined. "How do we get over there, none of us can fly."

Staring in the same direction, Tai nodded as he too could see the problem, one hand moving up to scratch his head in embarrassment. "Think they'd mind waiting for us to find someone who does?"

"No." Knightmon replied in a deadpan tone of voice as he could clearly make out one blond haired boy screaming at them through his gag. "But they'll have too, now come on, how hard can it be to find a digimon who can fly."

* * *

"Five hours, five damn hours!" Matt yelled out as his gag was removed, several of the other digi destined running the wrists were they had been tied together. "What the hell did you three do, stop for a danish!" Grabbing Tai rather roughly, Matt glared into the messy haired boy's eyes as he literally gave off a growl.

Pushing off the hands holding him roughly, Tai glared back at the boy before him, one hand pulling on his shirt to get it back in place. "Well sorry, but it was hard to find someone who could help, okay!" Turning his head to the side, he stared up at a digimon sitting on a nearby rock, an amused look on its face as it spread out its wings. "Hey, thanks for the help Airdramon."

Getting a soft cry in response, the winged dragon snake like digimon took of flying, it large body quickly fading away into the horizon as several loud roars came from it.

Turning back around, as the digimon was gone, Tai grinned as he opened his mouth. "Okay, now that is dealt with, we can return home, it's almost time to eat." Freezing as he noted the look several of them were giving him, he scratched his head lightly. "What?"

Coughing lightly into her hand, Kari quickly smiled as she stepped forward. "Thanks Tai, thank you for saving us." Smiling even more she looked back at the group behind them. "That goes for all of us, but also you Davis, I'm just sorry that he had to use everyone to force us to surrender to him and then make you fight him Tai."

"You guys, you don't have." Feeling rather embarrassed, Tai quickly turned away and froze as he spotted Mimi smiling at him as well, a playful twinkle in her eyes as she nodded over at him. "Thanks, it means a lot to me, I just hope you are not to mad at having to wait for us to free you?"

Giving of a grin at the comment/question, Sora shook her head as she grabbed Matt and pulled him a bit closer to her. "Hey, it's no problem, we're just a bit cranky from having been tied up so long." Then she lowered her voice and gave a worry filled look at the rest of the group. "But what about Michael, he's joined that Babel guy now, not to mention he out to get all of us."

Not to her, Izzy nodded as he held one hand up to his chin, his eyes half closed as several different thoughts were running through his mind. "Not to mention that he could digivolve Betamon to the Ultimate level. It makes him just as big a threat as Arukenimon."

Crossing his arms as he heard those words, Matt growled as he looked at each one. "And the majority of us can't make it past the champion stage. Which means we're outnumbered, especially against three ultimates, and one mega."

"Mega?" Tai blurted out as he gave a curious glance at Matt. "I thought you were only fighting against Ultimate level digimons, or control spire digimons?" The last had been spoken as he turned to regard his sister who had the graze to look a bit embarrassed.

Rubbing one hand through her hair much like Tai had done earlier, she gave her best I'm-sorry smile at him. "I guess I didn't tell you what digimon level Blackwargreymon was made to imitate."

Uncrossing his arms as he ignored the siblings' conversation, Matt froze as one thing came back to him, an thing that made his mind and heart scream as he turned back around with a frantic look on his face. "Where's TK, where's my little brother?"

* * *

A gentle, far off light began to filter in through her barely parted eyelids as awareness came back to her slowly and with a pounding headache at first. "Hey Catherine, you awake?" The question resulting in her eyes snapping fully open, sending a wave of pain through her brain as she found herself facing a bight light. "Take it easy, she wasn't too gentle when she dropped you off."

Pushing away the hand, Catherine sat up and rubbed a hand across her eyes as she felt her back make a few popping sounds as it painfully realigned. "What happened, where am I?" The two questions asked with a lot of insecurity even as past events came flooding back to her, along with the feeling of failure. "I remember, trying to escape with the Digi Core, but after that."

Settling down across form her, the blond haired face of TK smiled at her as he tried to his best to appear as confident as possible, given their current problems. "Well, I can't say much, but I take it you were captured by Ladydevimon?" His question not really needing an answer from her, but was rather meant to make her focus on them instead of drifting back off. "Anyway, this is, believe it or not, Piedmon's old castle, and the new base of Babel."

Moving into the conversation as well, Cody stood next to TK as he kept casting around an annoyed glare. "We stumbled over it several hours ago, and deleted the guardian Icedevimon." This part a bit colder then the others as he still hadn't found himself comfortable with the thought of harming a digimon to the point where it would die. "Sadly we got ambushed by Skullsatamon and thrown in here."

Nodding from his place, TK stood up and focused his attention on a nearby door, one hand clenching up as he stared at it with pure malice. "He took our digivice as well, and our D-terminals." Slamming one fist into the door as he finished speaking, he growled as he got a loud bang in respond from the guard digimon outside. "And without them we can't even call on Matt and the others for help."

Feeling better, or as well as she could be within a short span of time, the blond haired girl smiled as she stood up, one hand pulling out a small device from a small pocket. "Well, I do have a D-terminal you know, but I don't have your friends addresses." Staring at the device as she flicked it open, she sighed as the first address on it flicked across the screen when she entered the mail program. "Gennai, I hope he's safe."

"Gennai, why, is he in some kind of trouble?" TK asked as he turned back from the door, one eyes narrowed in a puzzled frown. "And what is that Digi Core anyway, all I managed to get from Kari about it was something about a barrier and a virus, Izzy seemed to understand it, but, well."

Staring at him, Catherine made a motion for him to sit down, her hand moving out to hand over the D-terminal as she sat down onto the floor again. "Well, it is a long story, I haven't heard all of it yet, but it is something like this. Long ago, Gennai and the four Sovern digimons of the digital world passed judgment on a monster who had tried to corrupt and destroy the digital world, when the two chosen at the time fought him, he revealed what would be known as the virus. Claiming it would change the digital world into a twisted dark version, and destroy the balance of light and darkness."

Taking a deep breath after that long talk, she smiled and went on with the story. "After his defeat and the two champions had left, Gennai acted out on the sovern's judgment and banished the monster back to where he had come from, namely, Earth."

"You mean, someone else besides Ken, Taichi and Jun tried to mess up the digital world?" Cody added in as he gave her his full attention, both hands curled up at his side. "But this one, he really wanted to corrupt the digital world?"

Nodding at first, Catherine gave them an unsure look as she debated what to tell them more, or if she should wait until Gennai could tell them. Still, that would depend on how fast they could get out of here, and if they could get out of here at all. "He still does, that Babel character, he's the same monster as the one who tried to destroy the digital world once, and even after the soverns banished the virus from the digital world, it still pose a danger. For the digi cores did one thing, keep the thing sealed, but now it is gone, and the virus can be recalled."

Shaking his head in a negative way, TK grinned as he stared at her. "Maybe not, you see, three years ago the first eight digi destined gave up on out power to form a shield around the digital world, to keep out evil."

"And that shield will also be destroyed." Came the arrogant voice of Skullsatamon as he stepped into the room, one hand clenched up tightly around his staff, eyes gleaming with maniacal joy as he gazed at each one of them. "And now, it is time for the last thing, to welcome Master Babel into this world."

Reaching down, he grabbed Cody and lifted him up with little trouble, the only minor annoyance coming form the boys struggling against this hold. "Stop that at once brat, you must know by now that you don't stand a chamce against me, even with your digimons here to help you, it wouldn't matter."

Turning around, he grinned as he marched over to the door and held up Cody. "Now, for the reason I came here, I need you and Blondie over there, the boy that is, to release your digimentals." Ignoring the protesting wails and angry outbursts, he lifted up his staff and pointed it at the lone Bakemon standing guard outside. "Nail Bone!"

Or he had done so, until a powerful discharge of negative energy hammered into the ghost type digimon, instantly ripping him apart in a second. "So, will you comply with my request, or do I have to get violent?" The last word spoke out softly as his eyes seemed to drill their way into each of them.

"We'll, do what you say." TK answered as he came close to almost spitting out the words, both hands clenched up as he stepped forward. "Just put Cody back down, and we'll come quietly."

Dropping the small boy as soon as he heard those words, Skullsatamon tapped one finger on his staff while glancing down at TK's hands. "Hmm, I thought we had taken away those things." Lashing out as he finished talking, he watched as its sphere collided and knocked Catherine's D-terminal up into the air where he could seize it. "There, now we can leave, and because I want it so, you get to be in the front Blondie, and this time, I mean the both of you."

* * *

In the real world, Babel grunted as he found himself standing in front of the other location he had marked for his return to the digital world, his eyes glancing over at the TV station in direction, and the ocean front behind it. "How fitting, to have my return to the digital world happen in the very place where the heroes of the digital world returned to save it from."

Snapping open his Laptop while ignoring those around him, he smirked as the gate program started up, the locked sentence still in place. But it wouldn't be for long if he had anything to say about it. "Soon, I shall return Gennai, and then, you will feel my wrath."

Casting a look up, he felt a smirk form as he watched the sky seemingly respond to him and his dark plans as heavy dark gray rain clouds began to swallow up the crystal blue skies. "How fitting." The words comming from him as he lifted up his device, connecting it with his laptop before returning to just observing the program. "Won't be long now, if those fools get it right this time around."

* * *

Pushing the young boy into the room in front of them, Skullsatamon watching with keen interest as several Bakemons floated back and fourth before a large metallic door, several arcane runes on its metal surface. "I assume you'd recognize this one, little boy."

His words aimed at TK as once again he pushed them forward. "Hey, Ladydevimon, bring out the brats D-terminal, it's time we secured a stable power source for this place." His eyes gleaming with a sadistic glint as he saw all three humans tense at the sight of the female devil like digimon descending towards them. "And have someone take our newest visitors down to the labs, she's needed there."

Lifting up a hand, he stared at her D-terminal still held firmly with in his bone fingers. "And this one won't be needed anymore." Crushing the device as he talked, he tossed it at the ground, smirking as the blond haired boy flinch back before it could hit him. "Oh yes, I noticed you sending a cry for help while she told you her little story, and trust me, we want your friends to come here."

Laughing in agreement as she stepped forward, Ladydevimon held up a hand and watched as a large metallic pillar rose up from the floor, eight different in shape and size, small holes cut into its surface. "And now, release you Digimentals if you please, so that we may begin phase two."

Facing them, she didn't even change her expression as her clawed fingers rose up and cupped Catherine's face. "And do it right, or she'll be suffering the price for it." The last part pointed out as five sharp claw like nails dug through the skin on Catherine's chin and cheek, each nail drawing blood.

Behind TK who were visible seething with anger, Cody were starting to feel some of the anger he knew TK had been feelings since they had been captured, even back when facing Icedevimon and Blackwargreymon before him. How could someone so evil exist, they were worse then Arukenimon and Mummymon?

Sure, the two digimons had wanted to kill them, but these two were talking about torture, hurting them just to get what they wanted, and most of all, they were taking hostages to force them into following their orders.

And no matter how much he hated it, he had to admit, that parts of him were no longer feeling any qualms about fighting them, let alone killing them.

"I... we'll do it" And once again, he found himself surprised as TK reached out and grabbed his D-terminal, light glowing as the digi egg of hope emerged to land in his free hand. "Where do you want it?"

Smirking as he guided him over to the pillar, Skullsatamon pointed as a small hole matching the shape of the digimental of hope perfectly. "Right here child, right here."

* * *

Feeling a little less hostile at the moment, Matt grumbled as he found himself sitting next to Joe and Izzy, the three of them sharing a seat on the back of Kabuterimon, and to one side, Davis and Ken were flying with Ex-Veemon and Stingmon respectively, and to the other side, Sora and Mimi were flying with Birddramon and further off, Yolie on Aquillamon with Gabumon, Palmon and Gomamon.

Behind them, Kari and Tai were sharing Nefertimon, along with his two digimons, that black colored Gatomon and the reptile like digimon, Agumon, if he remembered it correctly.

But that wasn't important right now, figuring out that massage they had gotten was, even more important then figuring out why he felt threaten by that messy haired boy. "How long until we reach them Izzy"

Scanning the lap top computer sitting in front of him, Izzy gave a low thinking sound as he scanned the map he had pulled up. "We still have a bit to go I'm afraid, I'm still not too good with tracking a signal in the digital world simply based on where it was sent from. All I got was a small layout of what sector it was sent from"

Next to the two of them, Joe sighed as he rubbed one hand through his hair. He had always known since that day four years ago that he would have to fight again, even if he didn't feel completely ready at the moment, but, just as he did back then, he was more then ready to give it his best.

He owed it to Gomamon, and all the other digimons who had fought along side with them, supported him when he doubted himself, and felt ready to give up on everything.

In the back of it all, Tai were trying to suppress as small laugh as he felt Blackgatomon's tail tickling his neck, the small black colored feline sitting on his shoulder with a wide-eyed expression of terror as she gazed at the ground passing by down below.

Next to Tai, Agumon didn't bother holding back a chuckle as he saw the feline like digimon nearly dig her claws into Tai as Nefertimon did a small curse change that left them feeling a small tilt in her direction. "Come on Blackgatomon, don't tell me you afraid of heights."

Shooting the small dinosaur like digimon a sour glare, Blackgatomon did her best to hold on more tightly on Tai without hurting him. "Shut, shut up. If I had been meant to fly, I'd have gotten a pair of wings when I was made." Her voice managing to remain calm even as she looked back down again, her eyes halfway closing as tress flew past below.

Giving his second partner a curious look, Tai stared into yellow eyes when she looked back at him, her fur standing up a bit in shock. "How come you're afraid of heights now anyway, you went flying with me several times in the past, heck, you spent hours sitting in the castle windows."

"Yeah, but you had complete control of those digimons, not to mention, a window doesn't fly." The last part added in with a sour look down at Nefertimon as she did a small descend. "I swear, she's been plotting to throw me off, ever since she first saw me, I swear it!"

_Staring at each other after Knightmon had de digivolve back into Agumon and Blackgatomon, the black colored feline digimon had turned around to talk to Tai, when she had found herself facing a white and purple colored version of herself gazing intently at her with sky blue eyes. "What?"_

_"Humph." Gatomon mumbled out the words as she took a small walk around her darker colored look alike. "Not a bad look, but don't think it means you're as good as me." Turning away as her tail lifted up in a superior way, Gatomon smirked as she picked up the sound of gnashing teeth behind her and a tail getting puffed up in anger. "Got it rookie?"_

"No she's not." Tai mumbled out, hoping that it was at least right what he was saying. "She's just, a bit territorial, just the way you acted when we first took up residence in Babel's castle." Smirking at the blushing cat still holding onto him as he poked her ear, Tai grinned a she playfully battered his hand away from her ears. "Come on, we both know you spent a whole week making sure everyone knew you were the top digimon around the place."

Letting out an indignant snort at the comment, the black and purple colored feline digimon went back to keeping a firm eye on Nefertimon as the digimon once again did a minor course change. "Who was she calling rookie anyway, stupid cat most likely spent her life getting everything she ever wanted, bah."

In front of them, Kari were doing her best not to break out in laughter as she could clearly hear both Blackgatomon's and Nefertimon's comments whenever the armored digimon managed to hear the black colored feline digimons remarks. "Come on you two, I bet you're more alike then you think."

And she meant it literally. How strange it may have sound, it seemed that both feline digimons had ended up spending time in the worst of places in their early times, and then, when they felt ready to give, found the happiness they needed with a Yagami.

Turning her attention away from the feline digimons, she smiled at the third digimon, her green eyes blinking once before focusing on her. "Anyway, you're Agumon right, nice to finally spend some time with you without having to be fighting of some kind of evil."

Grinning wildly back at her, Agumon looked down at Nefertimon below them. "It's nice to meet you too, like this I mean." As he continued to rant, the orange T-rex like digimon turned to regard Tai who was staring back at him. "Tai, do you think you could, you know, tell me what been going on?"

Facing him completely, the digimon gained a very nervous expression as he moved closer. "It just, I'm rather puzzled by it all, I wake up with no memory of what's been going on, and then I heard some rumors, and what she said about you once." His green eyes half closed as he took a deep breath, Agumon hoped that he wasn't going to get into too much trouble. "Did you, do all of those things she accused you off?"

Getting a rather shocked and painful look on his face, Tai quickly resigned himself to the unavoidable. "Yes, yes I did, and no matter what was wrong with me at the time, I was still a monster."

Keeping silent as Tai told Agumon of his past, Kari bit her lip as she managed to pick up on a few things even she hadn't heard about before. And below her, she could feel Nefertimon shiver lightly at the more, bloody parts, no doubt she was thinking of the blood-drinking monster she had once known.

Thankfully, he was long gone, and nothing would ever bring him back, never again.

* * *

Waiting patiently as he gazed at the sky, Babel grinned as he did managed to pick up the badly dressed man watching him from the other side of the plaza, his heavy coat and silly hat making him stand out with ease even in a big crowd. "I see you found, despite everything I did to hide my trail."

Sneering at the human man as he walked closer, the possessed Mummymon allowed it to turn into a smirk as he felt the digimon power he had just beneath his disguise, ready to be unleashed and crush this human once and for all. "Trust me on this one human, I never lose my prey."

Reaching out to grab him, he froze as the sky rumbled gently above them, bright flashes of light rolling in waves across it much like northern lights would. "What is this, how did you?" Facing Babel with a look of annoyance, he stopped talking as his eyes focused on the device in his hands. "No!"

Smirking darkly as he lifted up from the ground lightly, Babel grinned as he held on tightly to his laptop and homemade digivice. "Sorry, whoever you are, but from now on, this is my show, as for you, I trust you will be fine rotting up on earth."

Dropping his disguise with ease, the possessed Mummymon leveled the machine gun at the hovering Babel and let lose with a volley of red colored energy. "This is what happens to those who defy me!" Each blast scoring a direct hit, yet not hurting the boy who began to laugh as a large Neodevimon dropped down with a large burn mark on his chest. "Bah, I can still kill you, even if that last trick delayed it."

"I'm sorry." Mumbling out the words with as much of a mocking tone as he could, Babel closed his eyes as the area lit up with raw, multicolored light that washed down from above. "But I'm already gone."

As the light vanished, Mummymon eyes glowed yellow as he watched the fleeing humans around him, his anger making his want to lash out at everyone he could, even those who meant nothing to him. But most of all, he wanted to break the fools neck slowly, allowing him to savior the look of pain.

Lowering his eyes as a groaning sound reached him, he smirked as the rising Neodevimon were torn in half from his machine guns second salvo. It's part breaking a part in seconds, and getting loaded into his body even faster. "Hmm, not bad, for a human made creature."

Walking off as sirens began to fill the air, he smirked as several humans tumbled backwards to clear his path, each of his steps making them gaze in shock as he passed by them. "I didn't need him anyway, there are others, but more complicated ways to enter the digital world, and I think I got a good backup plan lined up."

Reapplying his disguise as he turned a corner and walked down a small side street, the Mummy like digimon laughed silently as he faced as a large, well know structure to him. "Digi Destined, prepare for a return of your worst nightmare." Crossing over the street with not trouble, he laughed as each step brought him closer to what he needed at the moment. "How right you were my old pet, sometimes it is best to let your enemies do the job for you, and I know just how to do it."

* * *

Growling as they were guided back towards the cell by a small group of Bakemon's, TK cast an annoyed look down a small corridor, almost stopping as he saw Ladydevimon talking with a much large, Devimon like digimon standing in what he could only guess had been Metalseadramon's water tank.

And beyond them, he could see Skullsatamon hovering in the air, but unlike the other two, he was fully focused on another far to familiar device lined up against the back wall. "It can't be, Myotismon's dark gate." Even as he spoke, he stopped walking as the doors loudly screeched and swung open to reveal the multi colored light of a digi gate behind them. "No."

Next to him, Catherine and Cody stared as well as a figure became clear, his body looming up tall as he walked forward, purple haired framing his face as he smirked towards the tree digimons who were now all facing him. "That's Babel, he here, to destroy everything again."

Her voice breaking Cody of his glum thoughts, the young eyes narrowed as he once more looked the purple haired man over, seeing more then just a small resemblance, but he wasn't really sure who it was. Still, even he knew what this new turn of events meant. "We failed, didn't we. He found his way into the digital world after all."

"No." TK breathed out as he focused on the sight before him, hand clenching up. "We will stop him, not matter what, I won't let the digital world suffer again."

Getting pushed forward roughly at his comment, TK glared over his shoulder before walking forward, his eyes narrowed as he took in as much of the area as he could. Hoping to spot something that could help them escape, but so far, all he had seen were a completely standard corridor, just a rather large one.

No doubt it had been built that way to make sure Machinedramon could come and go as he please, just as he had noticed the large openings in the floor and roof regularly, all of them large enough for even MetalSeadramon to fit in through them. "How I hate this place." Spitting out the words, as they were pushed around a corner, they were forced to stop as more Bakemon's moved forward, these ones grabbing Catherine. "Hey, what are you doing?"

The answer for his question, didn't come from any of the Bakemon's, but rather from the imposing figure of Babel as he and Skullsatamon walked forward, his eyes ice like in hardness as he swept his glance over each of them. "Well, we're taking her to the lab child, after all, she might be of some use to me, just like your friend Michael will be, after I improve them of course."

Pushing his way past the struggling blond haired boy, he stopped and gazed over at TK with a lightly put off expression as he held up two digivices. "And these two, will also come in handy, just think of what I can learn from them. When I tear them apart."

"No you won't!" Turning as the yell filled the air, Babel and TK both stared in shock as a small, light brown and white shape came flying out of the shadow. "Boom Bubble!" Patamon letting lose several attacks right each other, catching both Babel's hands and the Bakemons holding TK and Cody.

As soon as he felt himself get freed, TK grinned as he lashed out with one hand, hitting Babel right in the jaw and sending him back even further while he was still screaming in pain. "Cody, Catch!" His words shooting out as he pulled the two digivice from Babel with his other hand, his own device staying with him while the other was tossed at the younger boy.

Even as he grabbed the device TK had tossed, Cody was forced ot back up as the Bakemons recovered and began to move towards him. "TK, what do we do now? I need Armadillomon to fight." Stumbling back as black colored hands shot out from the ragged cloaks of the Bakemon's, he tumbled over while a power flash of light went off from his digivice. "What, but it."

"Armadillomon digivolves too Ankylomon!" His unfinished question getting answered as a small, brown and yellow form was replaced with a much large digimon, this one barely able to fit in the corridor as he continued to rush forward. "Cody, move, roll to your left or I'll hit you as well."

Doing his best to follow the command, the younger boy let out a cry of pain as he hit the wall none to gently, but still, just in time to avoid getting hit by his own partner taking advantage of the narrow hallway to ram right into Skullsatamon who let out a grunt, but otherwise showed no sign of having gotten damaged. "Cody, move. I don't think I can do much but block his path."

Pulling back and twirling his staff around, Skullsatamon let out a mocking laugh as he swung it forward, hamming the staff's head righting into Ankylomon. "How observant of you, you worthless little Digimon." Watching the digimon as it went skidding backwards, the undead digimon smirked as he walked forward while holding up his staff in front of him. "Now, should I just hurt you, or hurt you a lot?"

"How about none of it?" Yelling out the command as he flew in through the only opening available, Angemon smirked as he saw Skullsatamon tense up in surprise. "You're finished, Angel Rod!" Hitting the undead digimons staff as hard as he could, Angemon risked looking back over his shoulder. "Ankylomon, protect them!"

Hissing in anger as he saw his staff fly off, Skullsatamon lashed out with one hand, fully intent of ripping off Angemon's helmet and head. His smirk dying as it was blocked by that blasted metallic staff. "You've gotten better Angemon, but even you can't beat me, not this time around."

Watching as a surprised look passed over the angel type digimon's face, Skullsatamon lashed out even more violently, scoring a direct hit right in the stomach, a hit that was followed up a by a left hook sending Angemon tumbling backwards with an out of control movement. "Now die Dammit!"

Ignoring the pain, Angemon focused all of his strength into a last ditch attack, his right hand flying out as an intense light formed around his clenched up fist. "Hand of Fate!" The attack covering the distance in about a second, and hitting Skullsatamon with enough force to slow him down long enough for his partner to escape at least. "TK, I'm sorry, I failed... Huh?"

The last was muttered out as he felt his partner grab him, an urgent look in his eyes. "Come on, we're not leaving you behind." Stepping away from Skullsatamon, he stopped as he saw Angemon tense up, face turned to watch as the undead digimon stepped forward, none the worse from the direct hit. "Come on, we can't beat him."

Eyes narrowed in anger as he watched the two of them, Skullsatamon lifted up his hands, bone like fingers glinting as he stepped forward to attack. "How sweet, two, for the price of one."

Mouth growing firm, Angemon tensed up once more as he grabbed TK. "Hang on TK, this might be a bit hard." His words whispered out as he judged it to be the correct moment to run away. "We're leaving." His body taking off into the air as Skullsatamon passed by underneath, clawed hands lashing out and leaving large slash marks in the wall. "Until the next time we meet."

Turning around at that mocking comment, the undead digimon grunted as he found himself standing in an empty hallway, just as he had expected it. "You're right Angemon, vengeance can wait until we meet again." Grabbing his staff, the undead digimon began to laugh as he wandered off, trailing one bony hand along the wall. "And this time around, a stupid prophecy won't save you from my darkness."

* * *

Sitting calmly in his control room, Babel watched the image of the two kids and their digimons escaping from his new base of operations. "Well, well, I see they got away. Just as it was planned." Turning around, he gazed at the two digimons standing behind him. "Now then, listen up, and listen well, I want you two to follow them, and when I say so, destroy them."

Clenching up a hand as he turned back to the screen, he grinned darkly as he walked up to gaze on one screen in particular, eyes narrowed in dark mirth. "As for those two, prep them and their digimons for infection. I need them to be ready for phase two."

Bowing, Ladydevimon and Skullsatamon walked out of the room, leaving the young human alone as he turned his attention to another screen. "Ah Gennai, Your capture is the best thing so far, too bad the Gate was only able to bring you over, then again."

Tracing a finger along his throne, Babel smirked as he stood up in his full height. "If Daemon were here now, he wouldn't have allowed me to finish my plans first." Refocusing his attention on the screen showing TK and Cody escaping along with their digimon partners, another smirk filled his face. "Good, good, keep on running, and lure my little assassin to the others as well. And when you find them, you will all die."

TBC: The Secret of the Destiny Stones part one.

AN: Now we enter the final parts of the story as the DD's set off to find more power to help them fight off the new darkness infecting the Digital World. And without Gennai to aid them in this matter, they will be hard pressed to keep ahead of Babel and his allies who seeks to fully disrupt the balance of the digital world and free Deamon.


	21. Part XXI

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Summery: AU, very AU and dark, with mentioning of torture, violence and blood drinking.

Things have never looked grimmer, as digi destined goes up against digi destined. Have Michael really lost it and willingly joined the side of Darkness, and what is Babel's true motive for seeking to destroy all. And what of the mysterious virus that everyone fears, what is it secret, and how is it connected to events in the past.

* * *

Spawn of the vampire  
The Secret of the Destiny Stones part one.

* * *

Gazing out through the glass window, the possessed Mummymon gazed down at the city below him, eyes a tad narrowed to avoid the glare of the setting sun reflecting off the waterfront. "Seems like yesterday, that all of my plans began to crumble away, beginning in this very location."

Turning away from the window leading into the conference room, the disguised digimon pulled out the nearest chair and settled down into it. "Now, I have my plan all worked out, yet I still has to bring it about, and this time around, I have to be as careful about it as I can be."

Breathing out the last words with a mocking tone, the possessed digimon spun his chair around and focused on the far off wall, as a shadow seemed to slide across it. "Ah, so you have finally decided to come out, my old servant?" His voice mocking as he folded his arms casually. "I've been waiting for it you know."

Slowly growing solid while seeming floating up from the ground itself, Wizardmon glared across the room and right into the yellow eyes of Mummymon. "How did you get here, Myotismon?" Anger clear as he floated closer, the small digimon finally broke eye contract with the digimon before him. "Your body, it has changed quite a bit?"

Letting a lightly annoyed glare cross his face, Myotismon stood up in his borrowed body, letting it loom up over the digimon before him easily. "And you, little one, hasn't changed, still the trouble maker." Crossing over to stand before him, a faint smirk filled his face. "So tell me, can you still feel it, how I tore you digital information to shreds, and condemned you to haunt this place?"

Ending his question as the door opened behind him, Myotismon allowed a smirk to cross his face once more as he witnessed Wizardmon sinking into the floor in an instant. "Now watch, and remember, how I reclaim my fate." Snapping around to face the middle aged man in the doorway, Myotismon grinned as he stepped closer to him. "Mr. Ishida I take it?"

Taking in the sight of the man standing before him, noting the ragged appearance and odd looking face, Matt's dad slowly closed the door behind him. "Yes, now can I help mister?"

Smirking as he stepped closer, Myotismon grinned as he allowed his body to transform back into its true, ragged mummy like appearance. And smiled as even more as he saw the human back up with a loud curse. "Oh, I do believe you already know about me, and while my appearance may have changed, I trust you still remember my name, Myotismon."

Still backing up until he was flat against it, Mr. Ishida's right hand groped along the wall and door frame desperately as he tried to find the door handle. "It can't be, you died, I saw my son and his friends destroy you, your body turned into a, a cloud. "

"True." Came the mocking response as he leaned in over the man and grabbed his shirt harshly. "But then again, the digi destined hadn't destroyed my soul, and since I wasn't in the digital world." Smirking at the recount, the possessed face of Mummyon nearly cracked apart as he opened up his mouth to show off his teeth. "Let's just say, that digital hell wasn't in my traveling plans."

Struggling to get free as he was dragged away from the door, Mr. Ishida gulped as a faint outline of darkness formed around Mummymon's body. "What, what do you want with me?" His voice giving off how nervous he was as it trembled while forming each word. "I wasn't one of those who fought against you."

Laughing as he dropped the middle aged man on the ground, Mummymon's body began to convulse, as the dark outline grew even brighter. "I am well a where of it, but you do have one other important factor I can use."

Ripping lose and crossing the room in a shower of digital data, Myotismon's soul rammed right into Matt's dad, the force sending him tumbling back as digital data from Mummymon's rapidly deleting body floated in closer to him. "I need either to carry out a long and dark plan to reenter the digital world again, but since I am in a hurry, I'll use you to get the digi brats to do it for me."

Laughing as he walked out after getting the last of Mymmumon's energy and digital data, Myotismon closed the door in his newly possessed body, stopping to stare over at the woman sitting outside of it. "I'm taking the rest of the day off, got it!"

Walking off before he could get an answer, Moytismon inside Matt's dad chuckled as he opened the next door and walked through it. "And now, to find that special digi destined, and make him open the gate for me." Laughing subtly as he ascended the stairs, he chuckled even more darkly as he passed by a security guard who simply nodded at him.

* * *

"I don't like this." TK mumbled out as he cast a glance back at the rapidly vanishing ruin, his body tensing up as he cast a dark look back at their destination. "Our escape, it was far to easy. We were outnumbered, and underpowered, and we still go tout with almost no problems."

Holding onto him, Angemon nodded in agreement as he began to descend towards Ankylomon running through the jungle below them. "I know, Skullsatamon, I know he was holding back, my attacks barely even phased him." Shuddering at the last few words of that digimons mouth, Angemon slowed down and prepared to land. "I do feel a great regret that we couldn't get Catherine out with us."

Opening his mouth to add a comment, Cody blinked his eyes briefly as a loud beeping sound reached him. Looking down, he smiled as he pulled his digivice out and held it up. "TK, the other's are getting closer." Standing up as his digimon partner had stopped moving, he grimaced as he faced the direction they had come from. "Maybe with their help, we can beat those guys and free Catherine."

Smiling in a less then convinced way, TK stared towards the direction that the other digi destined were coming from, his mind still going over the fight. "Cody, I don't think we can do that, not yet." Seeing the other boy turning to stare at him, he let out a sigh of uncertainty. "You and Yolei are both strong, and your digimons are as well, but you're just not ready."

Eyes narrowing in light anger, Cody turned his full attention on the older boy as he took a step forward. "And what do you mean by that, we can't just leave her behind, or are you giving up?" Voice cold as he spat out the last part, he froze as he saw TK tense.

"Cody." Speaking out the name softly, TK smiled as he turned his head to face the younger boy. "It's not that I'm afraid, it's just. We may have to fight these digimons, until they are deleted."

Letting his anger vanish at that comment, Cody felt something inside of him that he couldn't understand, it made him feel angry, unsure and sick at once. "You, how can you just say that, Digimons are living beings, we can't kill them, I won't do anything like that!"

Snapping his eyes onto Cody with such coldness that the younger boy stopped yelling, TK clenched up his hands and took several deep breaths. "I know that Cody, but I also know this, we can't do it without going all the way, we can't win like that."

Moving closer, TK jumped out of Angemon's arms and landed on Ankylomon's back, one hand holding onto his hat. "Four years ago, we didn't want to either, we didn't think we had to kill any of the digimons we met, not until we met him." Walking past his younger friend, he stopped and lowered his head. "Devimon showed me, us, differently. He attacked us, split us up and almost killed us all. It was only by sheer luck that we survived."

"And it nearly cost me, my best friend." The words breathed out, TK stared up at Angemon who where also standing on Ankylomon's back. "And after him, we met other digimons who were just as bad, if not worse. Etemon, Myotismon, both of them were powerful, and none came as close to winning as Myotismon, it was only because we found Davis and Kari that we could win against him."

Turning back to face Cody, TK tried his best to keep a straight face. "You must understand this, there are some digimons and humans, who can't be stopped by talking with them, and they won't even bother to listen. And while you might not be willing to, they will not hesitate to kill to achieve their goals."

Turning his face away, Cody bit his lip as he tried to force down the unwanted memories and thoughts that speech brought back. "TK, I, I don't think I can." His father, did he run into someone like that, someone who didn't care if killing stood in the way of getting what he wanted. "I..."

"TK, Cody!"

Snapping his head up at the mixed voices, Cody didn't smile even as he saw the other digi destined coming towards them, the multitude of flying digimons lowering as they came closer. "TK, you know." Ending his sentence even before it got fully started, both he and the blond haired boy stared in shock as several dark gray and white tentacles erupted out of the forest, knocking Garudamon and Aquillamon backwards. "What is that?"

Clenching up his hand, TK narrowed his eyes as he watched the large digimon burst up from the ground, it's face distorted by a large grin. "It's him, the one Catherine mentioned, Marinedevimon."

Laughing as he swatted back Kabuterimon, the large ocean going devil like digimon focused on the two digi destined below, his eyes narrowed in thought as he took a step forward. "You two, you are the ones, the ones he told me to kill." Lashing out with a huge arm, he grinned as a geyser of dirt erupted up from where he had struck the ground.

As the dirt settled back down again, the massive digimon frowned as no bodies, no clouds of digital data were seen, even the hoped for traces of suffering digimons were nowhere to be seen. "How, no one could have." Turning to face the others, he froze, as they too seemed to have vanished. "Cowards, come on out and fight me!"

Tearing out of the forest, Ex-Veemon and Stingmon glare dup at the massive digimon as they came in closer to him, both of them ready and primed to attack as they still had the advantage of surprise.

"V-Punch!"

"Spiking Strike!"

Stumbling back more in surprise then from the attacks themselves, Marinedevimon sneered as he lashed out with his tentacles, each one hitting nothing as both Ex-Veemon and Stingmon darted out of the way, allowing the three other digimons right behind them to move in for an attack now that they had a clear path.

Swooping in from the sky, Birddramon and Aquillamon flew perfectly side by side as they lined up for a head on attack against the much larger digimon. Leading them, Nefertimon had already pulled out of her dive as a pink beam of light shot up from her back.

"Rosetta Stone!"

Breaking the formation, Birddramon took the higher charge while Aquillamon dived down and made a move for Marinedevimon's stomach and abdomen.

"Meteor Wing!"

"Blast Ring!"

Getting hit from three different direction at once, MArinedevimon stills sneered as each attack only served to blind and confuse him for a short time, all of his attempts at getting in a hit failing as he found himself unable to pin point anyone of the attacking digimons. "You!"

Snapping his head to the side at the word, He snapped his eyes open as a dark blue wolf digimon tore up the side of a large tree, this time followed by a large bug digimon. "No you don't." Ripping up the tree, he smirked as the wolf digimon went flying back down to earth.

Sadly, this move had left him open again, something he learned as one of his eyes got a face full of the bug digimon as it moved in far to close. "Beetle Horn Attack!" It's head ramming right into the soft tissue of his right eye at full throttle.

Stumbling back form the unexpected attack, the large ocean going devil like digimon hissed as he snapped open his left eye, one hand still protecting the damaged right one while the other managed to swat Kabuterimon as he tried to escape. "You, you'll pay for this."

"No he won't, but you'll pay for your cowardly attack." Cody spat out as he and Ankylomon shot out of the woods, both of them glaring harshly up at the large digimon as he spun to face them. "And trust me, I'm starting to see TK's point on this."

Stopping in less space then one meter, Ankylomon allowed his body to spin sideways as all of his forward momentum was transferred into his tail weapon. "He's right, and even if it feels wrong, we know that you deserve this, Tail Hammer!"

Letting out a roar of pain as his lowered leg got smashed, the massive digimon let out a curse as he tumbled sideways, his hand releasing Kabuterimon as he scrambled to find something to support him on before he fell over. But even as he tore the massive trees around him to shreds trying to maintain his balance, a flash of blue and white grabbed his attention. "No, not you, not now."

Smirking, as he pulled out his staff, Angemon lashed out as hard as he could, hammering the weapon into the digimons face with a loud smack, the added blow sending the large digimon crashing down. "Sorry, but the fight with SkullSatamon took most of my strength, so you'll have it settle for someone else to finish this."

On the ground, Ken and Davis grinned as they stepped forward, both of them grabbing the others hand as light shot out form their digivices. "You're going down ugly! Ex-Veemon!" Davis boost making the large digimon wince as he began to push himself up.

Giving a solemn stare at Marinedevimon, Ken sighed lightly. "I wish this didn't have to happen, but you give us no other choice. Stingmon!"

Feeling the command and knowing it had to be done, Stingmon and Ex-Veemon rushed towards one another as light began to spiral in around them.

"Ex-Veemon!"

"Stingmon!"

"DNA digivolve too!" Fusing perfectly together, the two digimons fused into a large four winged dragon, armor quickly flowing over their body for protection as each of their weapons snapped into place. "Paildramon!"

Hovering silently in the air for a second, Paildramon gazed down into Marinedevimon's face, the much large digimon showing no other emotion other then seething anger as he slowly cracked open his right eye. "Okay ugly, time for you to find out why messing with the digi destined is a big mistake."

Moving back a bit, Paildramon snapped each of his long-range weapons up, the waist mounted gun glowing as energy flowed into them. "Desperado Blaster!"

On the back of Ankylomon, Cody turned his head away as Marinedevimon let out a scream of pain as each energy bullet ripped into him, the sound finally vanishing as his body tore itself apart into simple digital data. "I know, he was evil, but I still feel that we should have sough some other way to win this."

Standing on the ground, TK gave a nod as he looked back down at the forest floor. "We all do Cody, but as I said, there are digimons you can't talk reason with." Giving a sad smile up at him, he grinned nervously as he gave a thumps up to him as he tried to shake of the depressive mood. "Now come on, it's time we returned to the real world, we have a lot to talk about with the others."

"And it's much more then you think, TK."

Turning around at the voice, TK stared as Floramon and Betamon emerged from the forest as well, both of them looking a lot more worse to wear then he had ever seen them. "What, what happened to you two?" His voice alerting the other digimons and digi destined to their presence, he soon found himself flanked by each of them as the two digimon stared back. "What happened to Catherine and Michael?"

Letting out a whimper, Betamon lowered his gaze as he limbered forward. "Ever since I lost against your digimon partners, Michael's been out of himself, he even hurt me, just as your 'friend' did." Eyes narrowed as he spoke, Betamon slumped down as he reached halfway over to them. "I didn't think it possible, but thanks to the lot of you, he even threw me away, calling me a pile of trash data he never should have counted on."

Giving the ocean digimon a cold stare, Floramon moved forward as she felt a bit of embarrassment flow through her. "TK, I'm sorry, but I know I should have help you and your friend when we escaped the prison cell, but I couldn't." Ignoring the confused looks, she stared into the sky as the full attack of having left her partner behind hit her. "Even Catherine, I didn't come to help her either, and before you accuse me of anything, let me tell you this."

Letting out with her hardest look, Floramon crossed her arms as she noted that everyone had given her their undivided attention. "The battle ahead of you won't be won, unless you managed to find the destiny stones, and free the sovern digimons trapped with in them."

* * *

"Terra Destroyer!" Following the yell, A sphere of red death blazed down at the rampaging digimons below, several of them screaming out as the energy ripped through them, reducing their bodies to nothing more then small clouds of digital data which quickly faded away.

And watching all of it from his place on the ground, Blackwargreymon snorted as he observed even more digimons running away from him. "Weaklings." Stomping over a shattered piece of a building, the humanoid reptile like control spire digimon absently lashed out with a claw and silenced the whimpers of a badly hurt digimon trying to escape. "Is there really no one who can stand up to me!"

Spinning around as he pulled up even more power, he focused on the only remaining building and let lose the power, taking no joy from watching it collapse into another pile of rubble. "Worthless, all of them, and this wretched form of life."

Lifting off at that comment, the black and yelled armored digimon stopped as he gazed as a small digimon cowering behind a nearby building. "You, you're like that one." Turning his face southward, he froze as an unfamiliar emotion rose up with in him. "That child, the one from that forest, maybe, he knows what I am."

Lifting off even faster, Blackwargreymon took off in the first direction he could think off, a single thought filling him as he focused all of his attention on a small boy, with such a passion for peace in him. "Strange, but maybe I shall finally find that which I seek."

If those kids really were fighting against Arukenimon, they might even find out why he was the way he was, how come he as the only one that had any kind of emotions?

He should be like the others, mindless, obedient.

Yet.

He had thoughts, a sense of self; he had emotions, feelings of anger, sadness, longing and confusion. They were part of him as so many others. And if those two had anything to do with Arukenimon, they should also have any answers.

If not, both the boy and digimon would pay a prize for not having them.

* * *

Walking in through the door, Myotismon in his new body grinned as he practically fell down into the leather chair, a small glare of disdain moving over everything in the room. "No taste what so ever." His comment spat out as he laid eyes on the single photo of a human woman.

Then his eyes lowered and a thin smile spread as he noticed the two children held in her arms. "And yet, I do see something welcomed after all." Touching the framed photo, he let out a chuckle as he tilted it down, hiding the image against the table. "Ishida, Ishida. Do I have a surprise for you when you return, one that will lave you scared."

Ripping a hand through the lightly graying hair, he chuckled as he settled down for a small rest. "And this time around, no simple child or miracle will save you and the others from me."

Rising briefly from his host, his dark soul hovered around the newly possessed body, it mere presence seemingly drawing the very light out of the room itself. "My age of perfect darkness draws near."

* * *

Silence had reigned in the small group for what felt like hours after that small announcement. All eyes locked on the plant type digimon as she gazed back at each of them. "Well, do you understand it or not?" The sharpness of the question shattering the silence as nothing else would have been able too.

In the back, Tai frowned as he could have sworn he had heard of those stones before, but once again. He found himself feeling that the memory was right there, in the back of his mind. But once again, out of his reach.

Shaking off the feeling, he refocused as Matt stepped forward, his face showing off the same amount of cold, and harsh determination as he had only seen whenever he had seen the boy talk about the digital world and its trouble. "Hey, you could tell a little more, what are these destiny stones anyway?"

Staring at him, Floramon seemed to debate the matter in her own head before she motioned for him to sit down before him, her whole demeanor showing the full amount of fatigue she had gained after the hardships she had faced. "The Destiny Stones, each of them is legendary, and spoken off in hushed whispers."

_The stones are the primary focus point for each part of the digital world, East, North, West, South. They also stand for an element as well, Wind, Earth, Water, Fire. Chosen to protect and guard these stones were the first four digimons to ever reach the fable mega level. _

_Azulongmon, sovern of the Eastern parts have the digital world, and the destiny stone of air._

_Xuanwumon, sovern of the Northern parts have the digital world, and the destiny stone of Water._

_Baihumon, sovern of the Western parts of the digital world, and the destiny stone of Earth._

_Zhuqiaomon, sovern of the Southern parts of the digital world, and the destiny stone of Fire._

_Long they battle to bring order to the world, and maintain balance between light and dark. And even longer has the time been that they protected us all, but then out of nowhere._

_One day, dark powers seeped into the digital world, and digimons rose up against those who fought to maintain balance, and each of them were sealed away. Their bodies imprisoned by the four masters of darkness, MetalSeadramon, Puppetmon, Machinedramon and their leader, Piedmon._

_Without them around, darkness ran rampant, trembling down the light in the process as their strongest warrior had been beaten. In desperation, the humanoid guardians, digimon with no power, turned to the ancient prophecies written when the darkness first appeared._

_Humans from the real world were chosen, and through the power of their hearts, and that of the digimons born to help them in perfect combination. Darkness was driven away, but since you didn't know of the soverns at that time, they were never freed._

Staring at each other, the eight original digi destined took in everything that Floramon had just told them. Each of them feeling more then just a bit awed by the story.

And within the new digi destined, a feeling of doubt, a nagging feeling that they could never live up what the first digi destined had done. Or would they, could they defeat this darkness that had returned again.

Slowly stepping fourth, Tai stood still as he looked down at Floramon, still seeing her distrust and slight anger at him for what had happened in the past. "So what did Jun and I have to fight, I know we took on Babel once, but I can't really remember what happened doing that time."

"You two?" Came the reply as the plant type digimon turned her full attention onto them. "Well, I'm not really sure, I think you and her battle Babel for the digital world once." Her cold tome warming up as she looked at him more closely as he settled down to face her at eye level. "Look, I didn't much of it, Gennai told Catherine most of it I think. I wasn't around much at the time."

Watching her for a moment, Tai gave her a sad smile as he reached out and gently rubbed her shoulder. "You miss her, don't you?" Seeing her freeze up for a second, he gave of a real smile at her as he stood up. "I haven't earned your trust yet, but just this once, believe me when I say this."

Turning his head down to face her, he held out a hand in a friendly gesture of confidence and friendship. "I'll get her back for you, I promise it. Even if it will cost me my own life." Seeing the digimon's shocked expression, he gave her a small shrug in return. "I owe it to you don't I, after everything I did to you, and the other digimons."

Snorting a bit in the background, Matt grunted as he felt Sora elbow him for the untold time. But this time, he didn't just ignore it, turning his head lightly; he faced her as she stared at him. "What?" The word whispered out as he glanced at her face.

Making sure none of the others had heard him; Sora leaned in closer and stared at him with her fullest attention. "Why do you act this way, he's trying you know, just like Ken is." Giving him her best pleading look, she sighed, as it did nothing to him. "Look, talk with him okay, if not for yourself then for me, please."

Not changing his expression for several seconds, Matt finally sighed as he stood up. Hands unclenching as he gave off a weak smile at her. "For you then, but I won't promise you anything." Turning his attention to the rest of them, he focused on Floramon. "So these destiny stones, where can we find them?"

Smiling somewhat strained at him, Floramon closed her eyes a bit and gave off a weak grin. "I'm not sure, but I heard a rumor that the Eastern destiny stone should reside in the temple at the top of Mount Infinity on File Island." Staring at each of them as she began to leave, she gazed long and hard at Tai. "I expect you all to live up to what Gennai told both me and Catherine about you, and you boy, I'll hold you to your promise."

* * *

Turning away from the screen with a look of disgust, Babel killed the transmission as soon as Marinedevimon's scream died out. "He failed me, the loser." Grumbling mostly to himself as he thought about this unexpected loss, he smirked a bit as he ran a finger over his chair. "Still, it did give me an idea of how powerful they are at this time."

Turning back to his screens, he chuckled as he called up an image of Catherine getting tossed into a tank full of brightly glowing blue liquid, Michael already floating in one next to her. "These two, will help me greatly, as I prepare to unleash the virus."

Running a finger over the screens, he smirked as two small files popped up, each one containing a small DNA like strand of data floating around on it. "But they will need new warriors, their own ones could have worked out fine, but since they ran off, new ones will needed."

Smirking as each screen flashed a bit as the data rearranged, he grinned as each screen slowly worked over the seemingly endless information and slowly formed an image of what he had created. "Yes, yes. These two will serve them well." Pointing at the large overly muscled digimon on the left screen, he grinned darkly. "You will serve the boy, and you, you'll work for the girl."

Turning his attention to a third scream, he grinned as he saw Gennai chained up inside a tank of his own. "And as for you Gennai, my plans for you are far more grim then you could ever imagine." Standing up as he finished punching in the last commands, he quickly turned to leave the room, his newly made cape flaring out behind him as he reached the door. "There's a new age brewing after all, an age of pure chaos."

* * *

Standing silently outside in the real world, Tai, Kari and Mimi found themselves staring after the fading forms of their friends, each of them having left for the night, wanting to return home before embarking on the next part of their adventure.

Watching a blond haired boy walking next to a reddish orange haired girl, Tai sighed as he turned to regard Mimi and Kari who were both giving him a curious look. "Uh, is something wrong?"

"Shouldn't we be asking you that Tai?" Came the reply from Kari as she gave him the best smile she could at the moment. "I saw the looks you gave them Tai." Reaching out to offer comfort she smiled up at him as he tried to smile back at her, but failing somewhat. "They'll warm up to you Tai, I know it. And with what you did today, you really took a great step towards getting their acceptance."

Losing her smile somewhat, Mimi glared lightly at Tai as she crossed her arm in front of her. "Which reminds me, what was that about you giving up your own life to save Catherine?" Uncrossing her arms to poke him in the chest, she snorted as he looked sheepishly at her. "Yeah, I heard that buster, I was only standing a meter or two away."

Glancing over at Kari for help, Tai blinked, as all he got was a friendly wave from the younger girl as she moved into the apartment building. "Thanks a lot sis." Turning his attention back to Mimi, Tai tried to give her his best, friendly smile. "It was, you know, something to make Floramon clam down. And I did owe it to her, after what I did."

Smiling as she looked back at where Kari had been, Mimi grinned a bit as she refocused her attention on Tai. "I know silly, it was just, you never said such things to me back then." Stepping closer, she planted one hand on his chest and stood up on her toes. "And trust me, it was really sweet."

The last comment was followed by a light kiss on his lips as the pink loving girl stepped back a bit. "And just so you remember it, I expect you to do same if I'm ever in trouble, just remember that."

Blushing a bit as he watched her just staring at him, Tai lifted up a hand to scratch his head while trying to calm down a bit, his once rather outward behavior towards her while he had been evil, hadn't all stayed with him it seemed. "You know I will, and, well, you know."

"Of course I do." Mimi replied as she turned halfway around and glanced over at him from across her shoulder, giving off the image of a high-class lady. "After all, I'm too pretty to be ignored like that." Smirking as he gave off that lovely grin she liked, she returned to her normal stance and grinned. "Now come on, it's not really dinner time yet, but I'm starving."

Giving her a curios look as she walked over towards the apartment doors, Tai reached out a hand and touched her shoulder lightly. "Mimi, is there some reason you didn't want to return home, I know you had a fight with your parents and all, but shouldn't you be going home by now?"

Freezing for a second, Mimi gave off a light sigh as she turned around to face him. "Tai, I love my parents, but, if I go back, they'll try and keep me from helping you guys save the digital world, they'll keep me form you." Her last words nothing more then a whisper meant only for herself, she didn't expect Tai to pull her into an embrace. "What are you?"

Smiling more sincerely as he pulled back form the hug, Tai grinned down at her. "Look, if you want me too, I can come with you." Seeing her face turn lighter either form shock or fear, he nearly burst out laughing as he could almost clearly guess what she was imagining. "It's okay, I don't think they'll kill me, maiming me is a possibility, but killing, nah."

Punching him lightly in the arm, the pink loving girl huffed as she walked past him. "Well then, why don't you just try and see if I'll help when they do maim you." Grinning lightly as she heard his mock gasp, she shook her head. "It's nice of you Tai, but I don't think they're ready just yet."

Stepping back, she waved her hand at him as she took a moment to just stare at him, taking in the way he was just standing with a small grin on his face. "Anyway, I'll see you again tomorrow." Smiling, she turned around completely and began to walk off, a light sigh coming from her as she gazed at the city before her. "I hope, they aren't too mad at me."

Behind her, Tai gazed at her retreating from as a thoughtful look crossed his face. "Take care Mimi, and good luck. I think, you'll be needing it tonight." Casting his eyes upwards at his apartment building, he watched as Kari, Gatomon, Blackgatomon and Agumon pulled away form their apartments balcony. "I'll be seeing you again, Mimi."

* * *

Stepping into the room, Babel gazed at the struggling figure before him, a grim expression crossing his face as several waves of pain flowed through the body before him. "If you relax, it won't as painful you know." His voice void of any emotion, the young man crossed over to gaze in through the side of the glass separating them. "Besides, it's not like you have any choice."

Defiance flashed through the blue eyes as they gazed out at him, anger clearly rising as a hand shot out to hit him, stopping short even before reaching the glass. "Yes, Yes. You hate me, I tricked you, used you, and now I'm going to turn you into what you hate most."

Walking past the glass tank to stare into another one, he grinned as an even more hateful look was aimed at him from the girl floating inside of that one. "You both do, which is really sad." The last part didn't even come close to letting out his real emotions as he chuckled darkly. "For which such an emotion, it is far to easy to twist it around and turn onto someone else."

Pattering the glass gently as several loud screams could faintly be picked up, he grinned as he turned around and stared as two small tables. "Anyway, I'm not here to fight, but rather to give you both a gift." Tapping a finger on the first table, he smiled as two Bakemon's came floating in with a digi egg each. "And I know, you will just love it, since I made each one just for you two."

Turning around to face Michael and Catherine as they both stared in surprise at the digi eggs, he grinned as he stepped over to the door. "It might take a while before they hatch, but when they do, you'll soon have the best weapon you'll need to fight off my enemies long enough for me to open the final seal."

* * *

"You're home again Son?" Mr. Ishida spoke out as he saw his son enter in through the door, a dark scowl on the boys face as he closed the door harshly behind him. "Had a rough day?"

Feeling ready to yell at his father for making such a stupid comment, Matt forced himself to calm down as he pulled out a chair and dumped into it. "Just had to deal with something I hadn't planned on." Tapping a finger on the table surface, Matt slowly raised an eye brown as he saw his father stare at him with completely attention. "You feeling okay yourself dad? I thought you had to work late again."

Smiling gently, but still giving off a faint hint of a predator stalking a prey, Mr. Ishida grinned as he stood up from the chair, grabbing the nearby jacket. "It's nothing son, just thought we could spend some father son time together." Seeing the questioning look on his son's face, he gave off a small chuckle. "Don't worry, I just wanted to do it before you're all grown up, and none of us can find the time to do so."

Grinning softly at the reply, Matt stood up as well, picking up his own jacket. "I'm game dad, if it get's me out of cooking that is." Walking over to the door behind his dad, Matt grinned as he felt that for once, he might just really enjoy an evening like this.

Besides, he could do with some fatherly advice on the current matters. Sure, he may be more grown up then the others kids thanks to the digital world. But it didn't mean that he knew everything. And he father might just be able to help him figure out why he held such a dislike to the messy haired boy, when he had no problem with the former digimon emperor.

Up ahead of him, Mr. Ishida grinned as his eyes flashed yellow briefly. The mental laughter of Myotismon filling his mind as the vampire digimon looked forward to the next step he would take. "Now then, I heard about this new restaurant at work today, has a killer sushi."

"No thanks dad." Matt grinned as he zipped up the front of his jacket. "But I still prefer my fish either fried or cooked. Not much for that raw fish style."

* * *

At the same time across town, Davis entered into a small apartment, his eyes taking in the tired appearance of his parents sitting in front of the TV as usual. "Hey, I'm home again." His voice easily breaking through the noise coming from the game show as he walked into the main room. "Anything happen while I was gone?"

Looking up form the TV and smiling, Mr. Motomiya quickly patted the empty next to him on the couch. "Nope son, but if you hurry, you might be able to see if this one can win those 25 million yen or not." Turning back to the TV, he grinned, as the music grew more dramatic. "Come on, it's behind door number three, number three."

"No, it's door number two." Came Mrs. Motomiya comment as she too leaned forward to stare more closely at the TV before, her eyes briefly moving up to greet Davis as he smiled at them. "I left some food for you in the oven Davis, and remember, it's has to be heated for five minutes, not just the usual two you give it."

Shrugging as he turned to face the kitchen, Davis left out a sift sigh as he walked through the door and closed it. One hand pulling out his D3 even as he walked over to stare out the window, the seemingly endless sea of city light spreading out before him, much like a mock copy of the star filled sky he could see in the digital world. "Damn it, I was so close!"

Tossing the D3 down, Davis nearly crumbled down as well. Instead his hands lashed out and grabbed on to the window still with surprising hardness. "I had almost found her, she was right there, and now, she's gone again." Feeling like punching something, anything just to get rid of the anger aimed at himself flowing through him.

Davis instead, turned around to gaze at the apartment before him, wondering why he still cared about her. His older sister, the one who used to mock him all the time, start fights with him over the remote, the food or anything else they had wanted at the time.

And just as he thought he had found her, that he could get her to understand that she had taken the wrong path in life. She escaped again, this time thanks to one who used to be their friend. "Why Jun, why did you run away again, didn't you see it, he doesn't really need you, you're just a pawn to him, nothing more then a slave to be ordered around."

Reaching out as he kneeled down, Davis picked up his D3 and stared at its screen, the soft shuffling of feet from behind him clearly telling him that Veemon had snuck into the kitchen with him. "I failed her, again. Just as I did so long ago, I didn't protect her from the monster in the convention center, and now, she gone again."

Stepping up to the side of his partner, Veemon wisely kept his mouth shut as he saw the faint sparkling of tears in the corners of his friend's eyes. Still, he couldn't just ignore it, Davis needed someone, and he just the mon to provide the support he needed. "You'll find her again Davis, what you said to her, I think you almost got through to her, if you can do it again, I'm sure."

Closing his mouth as Davis looked up, Veemon blinked as a cold, and very harsh determination could be seen in those brown eyes. "Davis, you okay?"

"I'm fine." Davis replied as he stood up, one hand brushing off the dirt from the kitchen floor as he stared at his reflection in the window. "And thanks, I know I can reach her, but how, I don't even know where she is now. And we can't really take off to look for her, we have t stop Babel."

Dropping down in the chair next to him, Davis grumbled a bit as he looked at his partner. "Being the leader right now stinks, I can't leave the team, they need me, but I also want to find Jun." Turning to face the oven, he smiled a bit as his stomach growled at the lack of food it had suffered. "Well, I can't think on an empty stomach anyway."

Jumping up on the table, Veemon almost drooled as he watched his partner turn on the oven to heat up the meal. "Don't forget about me either Davis, I could also use some food right about now."

* * *

A cold wind blew past her as she stumbled over a small root sticking out of the ground. Regaining her balance, she took a few seconds of her time to curse the stupid thing, her brother, all of the digi destined and that bastard Yagami. Once again he had beaten her, and to top it off, he hadn't even fought against her.

No, it had all been her fault for losing that battle; she should have known that the plan was faulty. But it was Master Babel who had made it, it was him who had laid out it all in detail, and still it had fallen apart completely. Megadramon was gone, Penmon too, and even Witchmon had been defeated.

She was sure of it, why else would Yagami still be alive. And to top it all off, the digi destined was stronger now then they had been before.

And where she now after all her hard work? After trying so hard to please her benefactor, the one who promised her the world if she joined his cause.

Facing the swamp before her with a cold glare, Jun felt like giving up at that point. Not much to if all she could do was stare at an endless field of murky waters, and the foul stench of the air itself made her even more angry. "Damn it, this wasn't supposed to be my fate."

Lashing out and punching a dead tree, Jun felt her anger continue to grow, and along with it. Came the desire for vengeance, not just against the digi destined and Yagami. But against everyone, even Babel. "He, he tossed me aside, I who have served him for so long."

Dropping her digivice as she sat down, the messy haired girl looked up at the sky above her as her mind grew cold with depression. "What? What's there left for me now?" Her voice almost a whisper, she pulled her knees up close as she curled up into a ball. "Is my life just meant to be a worthless existence, with no other meaning to it then that of any common loser?"

Lying still for several minutes, the messy haired girl finally looked up as the sounds around her faded away. The only faint light she had had was coming from the moon, which added to the tension and heavily feel of danger, added onto it was the sudden sound of loud footsteps from behind her, footsteps which growing in strength as they approached her.

And with that came the feeling of fear, fear for her life as several different possibilities flashed through her head. All of them involving her getting found either by Babel's servants, the digi destined or a rouge digimon looking for someone to hurt, or even one out for revenge for what she had done, or rather had failed in doing.

As the footsteps reached the very place she was sitting in, she cringed. Only to feel her breath leave her as they stopped moving, and the large shadow of a digimon covered her completely.

Feeling her heart beat with such force it might burst out of her chest, Jun slowly crawled up onto her knees, a defeated aura flowing around her as she lowered her head. "I'm, I'm sorry. I failed in defeating them."

Not getting an answer, Jun felt her mind get crushed even more by despair as she waited for an answer. "Well?" Finally snapping and spitting out the word, Jun simply wanted it over with, rather then just sitting around and wait for him to simply speak like a scared little child.

Still not getting an answer, Jun clenched up her hands and spun around, her eyes blazing with cold hatred. "What is your problem you..." And simply froze as she found herself facing someone she had only heard off, but recognized very easily just from the way he towered up over her. "You, you're... Blackwargeymon."

The digimon in question kept staring at her as she dropped down, her eyes wide and full of fear as he took in her shocked expression. "You're one of them right, one of the digi destined?"

And on the ground, Jun found herself unable to answer as her mind went racing. The stress, anger and fear combined with the events of the day proving too much for her as she simply shut down. The world growing dark around her as Blackwargeymon's demanding eyes kept hers locked onto him until she felt like choking.

* * *

Tbc: The Secret of the Destiny Stones part two.

AN: Wow, what an ending huh. Anyway, I'm feeling more then just satisfied with this chapter. While it does mention the destiny stones and set up the start for the hunt for them, I felt it served well as a finalizing ending to the previous chapters.

As always, leave a review with your comment about it, and stay tuned for the next chapter where a most unusual alliance is formed between the two most unlikely characters ever.


	22. Part XXII

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Summery: AU, very AU and dark, with mentioning of torture, violence and blood drinking.

Things have never looked grimmer, as digi destined goes up against digi destined. Have Michael really lost it and willingly joined the side of Darkness, and what is Babel's true motive for seeking to destroy all. And what of the mysterious virus that everyone fears, what is it secret, and how is it connected to events in the past.

* * *

Spawn of the vampire  
The Secret of the Destiny Stones part two.

* * *

Stumbling backwards as her level of fear dropped, Jun nearly stumbled as she felt the rough bark of a tree next to her; it's small body barely big enough to cover her if she would need to. "What, what are you doing here, did Babel send you?"

Eyes still focused on her, Blackwargreymon took a step forward, one hand lashing out and uprooting the tree she was backed up against with little trouble. "Where are they?" Voice cold as he towered up over her, the humanoid/dinosaur like digimon gauntlets pointed right at her eyes. "Where are they!"

Tumbling back onto her backside as she tried to escape again, Jun held back a whimper as once more the large digimon was before her, his whole presence making her feel venerable. "I don't know, I don't know, just leave me along, I don't want to go back."

Watching impassionedly as the girl kept ranting out several different comments that made little sense to him, he growled as he pieced one claw through the cape of her outfit. "Child, I am losing patience!" Shaking her once to shut her up, he glared at her as he pulled her close. "Where are the digi destined?"

Whimpering faintly as she found herself at eye height with the digimon, Jun began to open her mouth, until to close as her voice failed her. It wasn't until the yellow colored eyes narrowed that she found the will to at least spit out something to prevent her death. "I don't know, please, all I know is that Babel going to kill me, and it's all their fault!"

A long silence filled the air as Blackwargreymon simply stared at her, his eyes never blinking as he dropped her back onto the ground. "I must find them, they may hold their answers to why I am this way." Taking a step forward, he stopped as he felt her hand grasp his right foot. "Human, I have no use for you if you can't tell me where they are."

Ripping her hand away, Jun pushed herself up into a sitting position, one hand curling up around her D3 as the faint embers of a lost hope for vengeance began to rekindle. "I don't know where they are, but with this, I can find them for you, all I want in return, is for you to help me to get revenge on those who have wronged me"

"A trade?" Came the slightly humored response as Blackwargreymon turned to face her, his eyes alit with a faint spark of amusement as he stepped forward. "And if I agree to this, who is it that you will have me fight against?"

Smirking as once more she could see some way of gaining some kind of power, Jun stood up and smirked as she placed the D3 in her belt. "Besides the digi destined? I want you to help me against that bastard Babel and his friends." Faking a thoughtful expression, she tilted her head as she watched Blackwargreymon patiently waiting for her response. "He worked with those who created you, Arukenimon and Mummymon, not to mention that creep Oikawa Ukyou."

Filing away the names for later, Blackwargreymon did smirk a bit behind his mask as he had learned something new. Two persons who could have the answers he was seeking. "Oikawa, and Babel." Turning back around to face the direction he had been heading in, he gave a small snort. "Your offer intrigues me human. I shall ally myself with you, for now."

Opening her mouth to comment on it, Jun stopped as she saw him form a small red sphere of energy in his hands. "However girl, should you betray me, Terror Destroyer!." Letting the sphere of pure destructive power shoot off into the distance as he stopped talking, Jun found herself gulping as she watched the destruction. "I trust you understand how much I'm willing to believe you?"

Biting back a scratching reply, Jun lowered her head in defeat. Silently accepting the fact that she was once again not the main power, but rather just a pawn to someone else. "I understand, but before you ask, the digivices won't show me where they are precisely, they have be within its scanning range before I can guide you towards them."

Feeling a spike of anger at that apparently omitted fact, Blackwargreymon forced it down. Even as small a help as it was, it was still something that could help in the long run. "Just make sure you do your part, and human, don't leg behind. Got it?" Not waiting for an answer to his last command, the large digimon started walking forward, his eyes firmly locked on the horizon and the answers he would get from whoever had them.

And behind him, Jun forced down whatever fatigue she might have had as she jog up to reach the digimon, grumbling as silently as she could as she was forced to walk in twice her normal pace just to keep up with him.

But as always, it was an accepted part, even if she didn't really like it. Revenge against all of those who had stood in her way was worth any price.

"Just you wait Yagami, you'll get yours, and you too Babel." Muttering out the words to reassure herself that she really had done the right thing, she grinned as she could almost picture Davis's expression when they met again.

* * *

"Are we all ready to do this?" Came the clear voice as Davis gazed out over the group, several tired yawns and complaints greeting him as he watched the digi destined nearly fall back to sleep again. "Come on, you're one who said we had to make an early start Cody, and you're sleeping on the job."

Glaring up from where he was sitting, the young boy grumbled a few choice words that a kid his age shouldn't really know about and turned over to sleep some more.

And with that reaction, Davis sighed and dropped down in the only free chair and gazed around the room. "Geez, and everyone tell me I'm a late sleeper."

"Davis, it's six in the morning, we were out fighting bad digimons almost the entire day yesterday." Kari mumbled out while trying to remove some drool stains from her sleeve. "Couldn't you have given us at least an hour extra to sleep?"

Staring at the girl and shuddering some at the sigh of drool on her chin, Davis quickly turned back to face the computer, a small grin on his face. "Okay then, take an extra nap, I'll just wait until you guys get up." Rubbing his hands together as he hit the on switch on his prized computer, the messy haired boy grinned as the latest action adventure game's theme filled the room. "Okay Count Nork, it's just you and me for the next hour then."

* * *

Waking from his own slumber, the newly self proclaimed ruler of the digital world was greeted by the sight of a well furnished room, a large mirror taking up part of the western wall, while the northern one sported his double bed. "Yes, the first perk of being the one in charge, you get the best room for yourself."

Standing up and sliding a fine silk robe around his body, Babel grinned as he walked over to gaze at himself in the mirror, his eyes taking in the changes it had undergone from returning to the digital world. Gone were the signs of anger, the lines drawn from years of relentless hate. "And soon, I shall fully remove all traces of my former weaknesses."

Slamming open the door to his private bathroom, he tossed the silk robe off before turning on the shower. "Now then, the plans for today involve securing the last Digi mentals, and crushing the digi destined." Humming to himself while showering and thinking of crushing his foes, Babel stopped as he noticed the large shadow just outside the shower. "What is it now?"

Staring away, Skullsatamon coughed a bit in embarrassment before turning to face the door. "I'm sorry to disturb, but a urgent problem has arisen." As he finished the sound of a shower curtain getting torn halfway off reached him. "We have detected the digi destined entering the eastern quadrant of the digital world."

Stepping out and grabbing his robe, Babel grumbled as he tied it around himself and walked out of the bathroom. "I was expecting their return, but not this soon, and why are they even in that place, we have no operations going on in that region yet." Leaning onto his dresser, Babel eyes narrowed as he stood up and lashed out with his arm. "Send out the new batch of Neodevimons, I want to know what they're up to."

Simply nodding in response, Skullsatamon turned to leave, before stopping and looking back at Babel. "There is one more thing, the digi eggs you planted with your guests have hatched." Turning silent for a few seconds, he refocused his attention on the boy behind him. "Are you sure you can control them, with they rate they have evolved, they'll be at the ultimate level by sunset."

Smirking darkly as he pushed off the dresser, Babel turned halfway around and laughed as he thought about the question, it made sense of course, he had lost two of his most useful servants already simply because they had grown too independent of him. "Don't worry, I have faint it in this attempt." Pulling out a set of clothes to wear, he glance over at Skullsatamon with an amused expression. "And don't worry, you'll get your chance to fight them as well, I wouldn't want them to die to fast."

"And before you leave, inform Ladydevimon that I want her to lead the Neodevimon's." Degrading the silk robe, he smirked as he slid the clothes over his body, festering a pair of metallic wristbands on his arms, each one built to hold a small device. "Tell her, that if she meets the digi destined, she are to reclaim even more of the digi mentals, their power will be needed much later."

Slamming the dresser shut, he turned to face the wall mirror, taking in each minute detail of his outfit. From the wristbands, to the dark blue colored shirt, vest and pants set. "Like a true ruler, whoever said a super villain had to wear a stupid outfit anyway?"

Laughing at his own joke, he grabbed his fake digivice and snapped it into place around his wrist. "And now, let's get down to the truly important things." Walking out the door and down the corridor, he ignored the Bakemon and Neodevimons patrolling the place.

Reaching his destination, he set a cold glare on his face as the door slammed open, the digimons within the room before him turning to face him for a whole second, then they were right back at work. "Okay, I want to know the max power output of the digi mentals we took, are they enough to power the engines?"

Mumbling a bit, a lone Bakemon turned to face him, bowing hastily before holding out a small spreadsheet to the human before him. "As you can see, we have successfully drawn out a max Prower of 65 percent of this base needed capacity already, we will be able to lift up the main fortress in less then an hour, if there is no unforeseen problems."

Tossing the spreadsheet away with a bored yawn, Babel drummed his finger on his control panel, one finger tracing a pattern in the air as he looked at the Bakemon. "Cancel out the production of more Neodevimon's, that should free up the power we need, I want this place airborne within the hour."

"Yes sir!" Saluting him, the Bakemons set about carrying out his order, the whole thing making the human man smirk as he dropped into his command chair.

Then a frown crossed his face as he gazed toward his right, the place that would normally had been filled by the presence of his digimon partner. Before he was destroyed that was. "Jun, Taichi." Rubbing a hand across his forehead in a soothing manner, he pressed down the wall of anger. "I thought that making the ones who killed him work for me, would be enough to calm down this hatred, but now, I can't use that as a an excuse anymore. You will both die, as I had planned for the start."

Chuckling more to himself then for show, he leaned back and recalled the first moment when he had made the decision to turn them into his pawns. "I still don't know if it was planned or an accident, that I should find first you Taichi, and then Jun in the same day, and nearly in the same place, the great warriors who freed File Island and ended my first attempt to rule."

"Myotismon, it was your presence that lured me out of my hiding place, your evil that called me first to find Taichi discarded and dying." Clenching up a hand, he chuckled as he stroked a finger over his fangs. "And that was when I learned how my one act of insanity could help me."

Closing his eyes as he could see himself standing over Yagami in that dark area, the boy's breath slowly fading from his injuries. The dark idea formed in his mind, the amusing thought that his attempt to merge himself with a digimon could actually help. "From one to the other, I spread the data I got from my own partner willingly, and turned them like I had turned myself, feeding them the only remaining part of the virus I had, turning them into beings like me."

"Taichi joined me to survive, and Jun for power." They had been so different from what he remembered, the boy and girl who had argued at first, then joined forces to take him and his allies down. "I hated you and doubted why I had done what I did at first, I kept you isolated, fearing you would turn on me if you two met again."

_Then, I saw the true changes, none of you could remember the past, and with each day you grew away form what you had been once. Taichi became ruthless, eager to please me just to prove his worth, and Jun, she longed to claim whatever scrap of power she could, working for me as dedicated as Taichi, but both of them couldn't stand the other, I saw it at first when they met by accident._

_I was foolish; I should have known they'd one day follow me to see where I went. And from that moment on, I knew they'd serve me loyally, but another thing troubled me, their partners might tell them the truth, might reveal everything if they entered the digital world for me._

_Then I learned of the one thing I hadn't thought could be true. My own brother, turned out to be a chosen child himself, he entered the digital world and with another kid defeated a powerful evil. And from spying on him, tapping his computer and observing him closely, I saw the power of his digivice. _

_I tried to mimic its ability to open gates, but all I found instead was the darkest of places._

_The dark Area. _

_And within there, I met my greatest ally to date._

_Deamon._

_Our goals were different, very different. But they could only be achieved at the time by working together. He opened the dark gate and completed the corruption of Tai and Jun. I watched in muted envy as they could freely travel between the worlds, something I couldn't._

_And then, I gave them each a great gift, something to break the bond between them and their original partners. Blackgatomon and Penmon, both of them the result of my attempts at recreating my partner. Each one a failure, but a useful tool when they could be convinced to do what they should._

_I sent them to the digital world with the others to create fortresses and outposts, to search for the powers that would allow me back into the digital world, and to rejoin myself with the missing part of the virus. _

_My legacy._

_The power to corrupt the world._

_And now, I know what to do._

_Gennai and the Soverns little legacy,_

_The destiny Stones, they are the key to win this._

_If I corrupt them, the digital world becomes corrupt._

_That must be why they're in the south region, they're looking for the destiny stones, to bring back the soverns and gain their help._

"Skullsatamon!" Yelling out the words as he snapped out his small mental rant. Babel glared at the screen before him, raw anger running through him as he could remember more and more. "The destiny stones, Gennai and the Sovern pet project, their means to ensure that balance could survive without their constant vigilance."

Turning around as the door opened, Babel glared at the digimon outside. "Tell Ladydevimon, that I want her to do more then just attack the digi destined." Smirking as he lifted up his fake digivice, a small dark glow coming from it as he held it closer to the undead digimon. "I want her to use this, to infect the destiny tone with the virus I made, I want the digi destined to see what the future of this world will be like."

* * *

Glancing out over the rather cry and hot region of the digital world, Taichi felt like shuddering as he was reminded of a similar place, but one just out of his memory as always. "Are you sure that it is up there?" His eyes focusing on the boy next to him, a strange sense of familiarity hitting him, almost as if he had done it before, or was it just his imagination.

Not feeling anything out of the ordinary, Izzy checked his information again, the useful bits of directions and hints they had gotten so far telling him that there was no doubt about it. "It's there alright, Zhuqiaomon's destiny stone." Closing the laptop, he looked back at the group behind them. "Okay, get ready people, we're going towards the volcano."

Nodding in response, the group of humans and digimon quickly began to move forwards, those that could fly carrying the others as they approached the mountain. "Stay sharp everyone, we can't let our guard down yet." Davis spoke out as he looked up from where Ex-Veemon was holding him. "We still have to deal with Ladydevimon and Skullsatamon."

TK nodded in agreement as he cast a curious look over at Kari, the girl glancing back and nodding as he focused her attention on Gatomon. "Okay, let's go." turning away his eyes from the young girl, he frowned as he watched Sora's concerned expression, her eyes half closed while she was holding onto Birddramon's leg. "Sora, are you okay?"

Snapping open her eyes, the girl smiled a bit as she glance at him. "I'm fine, it's just that, Matt didn't show up, and I think it might be because of something I said."

Giving a loud sigh at her comment, TK silently wished that his brother would just get over this whole distrusting thing. It wasn't hard to miss the way he glared at the messy haired boy, and while he had done some bad things, he hadn't been anymore aggressive then Ken and Mat seemed to be fine around him, so was couldn't he handle Kari's brother.

"I'm sure he's fine, he might just have got distracted by something." Trying his best to give of a feeling of confidence, the young blond haired boy found himself frowning as he looked away as a more dark thought filled him. "Where are you Matt, what could be so important that you won't call us?"

* * *

Crashing into the couch, Matt silently screamed as he once more felt the feeling of something cold and dark slitter through his mind, dark laughter filling him as he bit his cheek to keep from screaming out in pain.

The coldness moved away after a few seconds, but he knew it was still there, waiting, waiting for him to relax before attacking again. "Get out of me, you, you."

'Monster?' Came the mental reply as more laughter filled his head, yellow eyes glaring at him as darkness crept in from the sides of his eyes. 'Come now boy, just give in, I promise I won't hurt you that much, I'll even forget that it was you and your little girlfriend who stopped me the first time.'

Spitting out some blood after biting to deep into his cheek, Matt growled as he began to claw uselessly on the couch, hoping that it was just a nightmare. That last night hadn't happened, that his father hadn't been.

'Possessed?' Came the mocking response as the laughter died down, the yellow eyes still haunting him as he felt his body grow cold. 'He was just a small tool, he wasn't hurt that much, besides, someone should have found him by now, we left him in a very open place after all.'

"Shut up!" Yelling out the command, the blond haired boy kicked out and knocked over the table, his eyes red shot as he tumbled down onto the floor. "What do you want anyway? You're supposed to be dead, I saw it."

A simple chuckle greeted him at first, then it grew more sinister as the eyes faded away. 'Oh I died alright, but since I wasn't in the digital world at the time, my spirit couldn't be reformatted or banished to the dark area.'

Pushing himself up into a sitting position, Matt would have given the world for something to glare at, but since all he could see was the inside of the apartment, he'd nothing to show his anger at. "So why'd you pick me? I can't open a gate, only the new digi destined can do that."

'But they think of you as a friend.' Smirking as he felt Matt go mentally cold at that comment, he laughed as he finally succeeded in beating down the blonde's control of the body. "And with that simple fact, it will be no problem to convince them to open a gate for me to return through."

Standing up and adjusting his shirt and hair as he grinned, he smirking mentally at the screaming Matt trapped in his own mind as he began to hum a lovable, yet dark music string he had heard while possessing Oikawa. "Ah, to return to the digital world, and to be resurrected in a new, and more powerful form, and with the help of a digi destined no less."

"Nothing can be more sweeter then that."

Truly he was the master of darkness, no one could be as cruel, evil and sheer brilliant as he had where.

No one.

* * *

Annoyance filled the messy haired boy as he cast a dark look at the inside of the volcano, the heat of the place making him sweat and pant with each breath of air he took. "Hey Ken, tell me that it is not a maze." Davis's voice dragged out a bit as he wiped his sleeve across his forehead. "Who would ever hide something important in a place like this."

"Someone who didn't want it to be found." Came the somewhat sarcastic reply as Cody cast a trouble look down one possible tunnel they could take, then over at the two others. "So, we split up again?" His voice prompting the others to look at him, more out of shock at the hint of anger it had, then the very question itself. "If we do, then we should make sure each group has the ability to DNA digivolve."

Grinning at the comment, Izzy nodded as he looked over at the older digi destined. "True, and I suggest that we split up in 3 groups. Davis, Ken and Sora, you three go that way, Kari, Yolei, myself and Tai will head down that path and TK, Cody and Joe take that tunnel."

Watching ach group as they looked at each other, he pulled out his laptop. "Any objections?" Seeing none, Izzy nodded as he glanced at each of them. "Stay sharp, you can bet that if this really is the location of a destiny stone, there will be bound to be something protecting it."

Giving him a thumps up, Davis grinned as he turned to face the tunnel. "Relax Izzy, with Paildramon on our team, no one will be able to stand up to us." Looking at Ken, then over at Sora, he gave both of them a slight grin. "Ready team, we're going in."

Grinning back at him, Ken nodded as he held onto Wormmon, the small green digimon giving a light cheer along with Veemon as they four headed off into the tunnel.

Looking over at Izzy, Sora gave him a look that clearly said something about her idea of the team, then she shrugged and gave a thumps up as well. "Hey, wait up you guys, you can't leave us behind." Yelling out the command, she rushed into the tunnel, Biyomon flying after her. "I said wait up."

Shrugging lightly, Joe looked at his small group before turned to face the tunnel they had gotten. "Well, let's get this over with." Wandering into it, he pulled out a small flashlight. "Still think its wrong to be prepared for everything Gomamon?"

The digimon in question just grinned as him as he shook his head. "You never change do you Joe, almost grown up, and yet you still carry around all those things you might never need." Planting one fin on his back, he let out a wide smirk as he looked at the tall boy. "Relax, all this just tells me you're still the Joe I met all those years ago."

"You two coming?" Yelling back the comment after letting out a small sigh at Gomamon's attempt at humor, he watched as both TK and Cody seemed to snap out of a deep thought. "You two doing okay?"

Snapping out of his thoughts, TK smiled a bit at Joe. "Yeah, let's go." Turning to stare back at the ground, he took a deep breath and stepped forward. "Come on Cody, we should hurry."

Simply nodding in response, the young boy followed after the older one, eyes closed as he gazed down at Armadillomon and Patamon having their own conversation. "TK, do you, do you think we get Armadillomon and Patamon to DNA digivolve?" His question catching the other boy of guard, if his small jump was any indication of it. "You know, if we get into trouble?"

Closing his eyes as he thought about it, TK gave a small reassuring smile at the younger boy. "I think they can, remember what Davis told us about his link with Ken, as long as we can agree and work together, we should be able to."

Not looking very much convinced, Cody rubbed one hand over the other as he focused on the path ahead. 'Can I really work with him, he so angry, so unlike me, I wonder, will it be really be needed to do what he said once, will we ever have to kill more digimons?'

Taking the central tunnel, Tai let out a wild puff of air as he focused on the group he had gotten stuck in. Izzy seemed like a nice kid, if a bit to obsessed with his laptop, Yolei, he could see some of Mimi in her, but she was also so different, like a tomboy with girlish attitudes added on.

And finally there was his sister, and no matter what, she was just that. "So, you two up to it, we may have to fight a digimon."

Flinching somewhat at the comment, Yolei stared at him as he continued walking, her mind nearly screaming out at the way the question had sounded to her. "We can fight yes, but I won't kill a digimon, once is more then enough." Her voice nearly as cold as an ice age, she sniffed indigently while glaring at him. "You may have no hesitations about it, but I do."

Glancing at her, he shrugged a bit and then looked right ahead at the path. "Hey, I was just asking, not making a comment. If you don't want to hurt a digimon, fine, just think about this." Turning his head to give her a dead serious expression, he nearly laughed a she saw her back up a bit. "Sorry about it, it just, digimons are like humans, and just like humans, some of them won't stop no matter how much you ask them to."

Glancing at Izzy, he coughed lightly as he saw the boy stare up at him with a surprised look, before quickly looking away from him. "Well, I spent a good deal of time with digimons. And I saw how some of them were just as cruel as I was while I was corrupted by the virus."

"Tai, Yolei, lighten up will you." Her voice snapping both of them out of their brooding mood, they focused on Kari as she smiled back at them. "Now come on, we still have a bit to go."

As they continued forward small talking about more friendly, everyday things. Three shadows slowly stepped out from behidn them, the emotionless faces of Neodevimon's following the four humans and five digimons as they continued down the tunnel.

In the main room, two other Neodevimon's glance down the left most tunnels and silently began to fly down it, their face showing no emotion as they could pick up the sound of humans and digimons up ahead.

Glaring left and forward as the Neodevimons left, Ladydevimon simply shrugged as she focused on the right tunnel, one arm lifting to rub her face in a questioning manner. "I wonder, will it be the girl with her Angewomon waiting at the end of here, or is it one of the other brats."

Smirking coldly as she summoned up a cloud of bats, she grinned as they took flight, following her every move as she flew rapidly down the tunnel, her eyes narrowing in anticipation. "Well, whoever it is, they will suffer a long time before I finally kill them."

After what seemed like it had lasted an hour, but had really only been a few minutes, Davis, Ken and Sora emerged out into a fairly well sized cave, the walls covered in harden magma as well as the floor, but unlike the walls, it somehow still managed to give off a faint red glow here and there from small cracks, the faint hint of an active lava flow somewhere below it.

Above Sora, Biyomon flew slowly in circles, her eyes scanning the room while the three humans and the other two digimon slowly made their way across the floor. "Sora, I don't think there's anything here, we should get out of here yes?" Her voice giving off her level of nervousness as she gazed at the glowing cracks in the floor.

Giving off a disappointed stare at the empty room, Davis sighed as he turned to gaze at the others. "She's right, the place is empty so we don't really have a reason to be here." Turning completely around to leave, he stopped as he spotted the two Neodevimons that had followed their tunnel. "Well, looks like there something here after all, Veemon!"

Spinning around at Davis comment, Ken blinked as the Neodevimon seemingly erupted into action, one heading towards Sora and Biyomon, the other one towards him and Davis. "Wormmon!" His hand nearly ripping his belt off as he grabbed his glowing D3, his mind already set on dealing with those two digimons before more could show up.

"Veemon digivolves too, Ex-Veemon!"

"Wormmon digivolves too, Stingmon!"

The two digimons leaping forward to attack, only to grunt as the Neodevimon pushed them backwards, its face lighting up with the glow of bloodlust as kicked Ex-Veemon further back. "Deep Sorrow!" A mist of darkness flowing out from the free hand as it laughed, the look of the attack making Ex-Veemon grunt in annoyance.

Backing away to avoid the attack, Stingmon grunted as well as he gazed over at Ex-Veemon, the dragon man like digimon nodding back as they both jumped forward at the same time.

"Ex-Veemon! Stingmon! DNA digivolves too, Paildramon!" The fused digimon grinned it barely felt fazed by the dark mist attack. "That the best you got?" His tone of voice mocking, Paildramon grunted as the Neodevimon responded with a punch, the attack feeling much like he had just patted his own chin. "Heh, he's barely as strong as the last one was, and his attack barely made a dent."

On her own, Sora bit her lip as she watched Biyomon digivolve to Birddramon, the large fiery bird like dragon digimon growled as the smaller, dark digimon swept in close. "Meteor Wing!" Her eyes narrowing as the Neodevimon swatted aside the only attack she managed to get off with a strained look. "Sora, I think there's something wrong with him."

"Desperado blaster!" Turning her head around, Sora blinked as she watched Paildramon quite literally tearing his enemy apart with his hip guns, the Neodevimon not even getting a scream out before he was deleted. "This is too easy." Turning around, he grinned as he shot forward, glowing blades extending from his wrists. "Are you ready? Sting strike!"

Letting out a scream, the Neodevimon flew backwards, his body hitting the wall hard enough to crack it. "Stun Claw!" His head snapping up as he fired off one attack, the energy hitting Paildramon and bouncing off, leaving not even a single sign of his attack behind. "No!"

Shrugging almost causally as he fired off his hip guns, Paildramon simply stared as the last Neodevimon screamed before shattering into a cloud of digital data. "Heh, we're stronger then we thought, those guys were a push over."

"Too much of a push over." Sora muttered out as she watched Birddramon return back to her rookie level as Biyomon. "Didn't it take much more time and effort to delete them before?"

Smirking with pride, Davis gazed up at Paildramon as the digimon did a quick pose. "So, we've gotten stronger since then, it only makes sense."

Ken, watching Sora slowly nodded as he looked around the room. "She's right Davis, we may have gotten stronger, but those Neodevimons, they barely did any damage." His voice turning lower as he frowned, he cast a look back at the tunnel they had come from. "We should go back, something tells me that there is more going on here then just this."

"Where the heck did they come from?" Tai spat out as he watched Knightmon bash one Neodevimon roughly with his shield, then almost causally cut him in half, the dark digimon screaming loudly before finally deleting. "Okay, that was just, amazing, you barely had to hit him"

Letting out a chuckle, Knightmon turned around to watch as Silphymon dropkicked one Neodevimon into the ground, the other one struggling to knock away the attacks sent out by Kabuterimon. "These guys, they feel like Rookies to us." Moving closer to the one fighting Kabuterimon, he chuckled as he held up his sword. "The duel!"

Relaxing as his opponent deleted, Kabuterimon landed on the ground and watched as Silphymon fired off an astral laser right into the downed Neodevimon. "Izzy, is it just me, or did this fight go too easy, those Neodevimons were nowhere near the level we saw the others have."

Frowning in thought, Izzy pulled out his laptop, one hand quickly holding it while the other punched in some commands. "I know, give me a minute to scan this place, I think I might have a theory about it."

Working slowly at first, the boy gave a small humming note as he watched some data moved across the screen. "I see, so that's how." Nodding as he close the laptop, Izzy shook his head a bit. "Guys, those Neodevimon's were as powerful as the ones we met before."

"But that can't be, we walked all over them." Silphymon protested as he shared a quick look with Kabuterimon and Knightmon, both of them seemingly as confused about it as he was. "If they were as powerful, they wouldn't have been beaten so easily."

Nodding in a focused manner, Izzy replaced his laptop back under his shoulder, his free hand pulling up his digivice and holding it out. "True, but the real reason, is our digivices." Getting a lot of confused looks back at that comment, he sighed. "This place, it holds a destiny stone, well, from what I can tell, its giving off a lot of mixed energy into the area, no doubt maintaining balance that way, our digivices picked up on the light side of the energy, and used it to boost the strength of our digimons."

Facing Knightmon briefly at that comment, Tai nodded a bit as he thought about it. "So, what you saying is, that as long as we're in this place, we're stronger then we would be anywhere else."

"Correct." Izzy replied as he stood up, one hand grabbing his laptop. "I would like to study it more closely, but I think we should get out of here and find the others." Face turning dead serious, he gazed at each of the digimons. "After all, we can expect there to be more then just a bunch of Neodevimons."

Her expression just as serious, Kari nodded as she clenched her hand. "True, one of Babel's henchmons could be here too, and I got feeling its someone we all know." Her mouth turning as thin as a line as she felt a bit of anger as she faced the exit and took off. "Come on."

Grumping as they entered out into a chamber as well, Joe rubbed his head and glanced up at the room, well, more like an empty magma chamber if he had to describe it. "Whoever this Zhuqiaomon is, he doesn't seem to care much for decorations, all that here are the writing on the ground and that..." His voice aimed at them, he grunted as he turned back to regard the central part of the room. "Is, is that it?"

"It must be." Cody added in as he stepped forward to stare at the only object in the otherwise empty room. "It's the Destiny stone of Zhuqiaomon!"

Rising up form a strange pattern of letters and sign on the floor, a brightly colored perfectly round stone hovered about a meter or so above the floor. Surrounding it were twin gold bands decorated with more letter and signs and two perfectly cut rubies the size of a fist.

Walking even closer to it, TK reached out a hand and grimaced as he could clearly feel something coming from it, but not really knowing what, or even how he knew it was there. "So, now what, we just ask it free the sovern or what?" His voice taking on a sarcastic streak, he froze as he glanced upwards. "Guys, is that a bunch of bats flying up there?"

Snapping his eyes upwards to focus on them, Joe hissed out as he stepped forward. "See, I told you we passed something in the tunnel, it must have been, what are they, batmons?"

"Not quite child of Reliability." Came a sweet voice as a head poked out from the cloud, blood red eyes narrowed in a seductive stare. "They're my servants, not a random flock of digimons." Fully emerging from the cloud of bats, she grinned as she spun around and landed next to TK. "Move it Kid, this hunk of rock is mine to destroy."

Grunting as he impacted the ground, TK glared at her as he pushed himself up on his elbows. "You really think that I'll just let you destroy it?" Eyes narrowing in anger, he glanced over at Patamon. "Come on, do it!"

Nodding in response, Patamon glowed as he took off from the ground. "Patamon digivolves too, Angemon!" Quickly turning into his champion level from before landing on the ground. "Ladydevimon, step away from him, and the destiny stone." Holding out his staff as he spoke, the large angel like digimon kept a firm eye on both TK and the female, devil like digimon. "Now!"

Smirking as darkly as she could, letting one fang poke out over her lips, LadyDevimon simply responded by pointing one hand at him. "Really, and give up an advantage like that, I think I'll settle for this instead, Darkness Wave!" Her smirk growing as the attack didn't come from her hand, but rather in the form of her already summoned bat servants swarming down from above. "I'm stronger then I were in the past you brats, and this time, I won't stop until all of you are dead for my deletion four years ago."

"TK! Angemon!" Reaching out a hand as the attacking bats close din, Cody quickly snapped his head around to stare a this partner, his mind for once made up as he shared a knowing look with Armadillomon. "Do it Armadillomon, don't let her get away with this."

Grabbing his own digivice, Joe looked at the battle with a far more experienced and courageous outlook then he had been doing in the first battles he had been in four years ago. "Gomamon, do your best to help them!"

"Armadillomon digivolves too, Ankylomon!"

"Gomamon digivolves too, Ikkakumon!"

Wasting no time in acting, Ikkakumon snapped his large body around as the first attack was already in the process of getting launched "Harpoon Torpedo!" The strange looking green torpedo/missile hitting the cloud dead on as it swooped closer to Angemon.

Even before the air had cleared from smoke, Angemon moved backwards, his attack already powered and ready, he simply let out a small grin as he targeted the remaining bats. "Hand of Fate!" Screams of defiance and anger filling the air, as they were ripped apart with little to no trouble. "Quickly, get her away from TK!"

Running forward in response to the command from the angel like digimon, the huge form of Ankylomon quickly reached the area near the destiny stones, his eyes narrowed as he took a leap forward. "This is the end for you, let's see how you like being trembled on!"

Responding to the presence of two more champion level digimons, Ladydevimon simply raised an eye brown and grinned as she spread out her arms, a burst of darkness shooting off from her as she grinned. "Really, three champions getting the better of me, how stupid!"

Crossing her arms as she watched Ankylomon simply brush off the attack, she frowned lightly. "Strange, you're stronger then you should be." Then she simple sidestepped and glanced down at TK's D3, eyes narrowed as she cast a quick look up at the destiny stone. "I see, you're tapping into the light powers of this rock, well, we can't have that."

Reaching out, she grinned as she placed her hand on it. "I wonder, will I get any stronger when I infect this slab with his virus." Laughing as she heard them yell out in defiance, she simply began to glow as the virus emerged to infect the destiny stone. "One thing i do now, is that this whole part of the digital world will be corrupted, completely ruined, even more then it was under the dark masters rule."

"Get away from it!" Turning around at the scream, the female, devil like digimon grunted as TK slammed into her, lightly knocking her off balance as he hit her guard. "I won't let you ruin this one, I won't let anyone destroy the digital world, I won't!"

"Brat, get off me." Hammering the blond haired boy off her, she literally snarled as she felt him grab a hold of her wrist, all ten of his fingers digging painfully into the flesh of her wrist. "Let go!" Pushing forward with the intention to impale him with her claw like fingers, she stopped as a painful jolt went through her body, a bright light shooting out from the destiny stone. "Wha, what?"

From his place pressed up against the destiny stone, TK hissed as he felt the level of pressure the female, devil like digimon was using at him. Then he blinked weakly as first a confused mumble from Ladydevimon and a faint humming sound filled the air, the sound followed by a powerful white light erupting from behind him. "Angemon, help!"

He couldn't really describe it first, it had been so longs since he had felt that level of power, and the moment hadn't really been meant to think about such things, so when it came, he just grabbed it and did his best. "Angemon, digivolves too, MagnaAngemon!"

Turning her head at the unwelcomed words, Ladydevimon let out a roar of anger, hatred and fear as she was met with the calm, almost overwhelming presence of an ultimate level angel type digimon. "No, you can't, its impossible." Spinning fully around, she pulled up both hands and snarled as she felt her dark power erupt at their fullest. "Darkness Wave!"

Acting as fast as ever, MagnaAngemon hovered backwards as a glowing blade erupted from his wrist. "LadyDevimon, your evil intentions, they end now. And trust me, I will show no mercy." Drawing a wide circle in the air, he felt his own power rise up as it was used to activate the attack, which had in the past, defeated the mighty Piedmon. "Gate of Destiny!"

With a yell of defiance, LadyDevimon glared as her bats were rapidly sucked into the swirling vortex of light, the air around her beginning to scream as it was pulled forward along with herself. Her feet digging into the ground as she spun halfway around, aiming for something, anything to hold onto. "Bastard, you think this will stop me, I won't lose to you, not after everything I did to return."

Grabbing out with her red colored fingers, she grinned as she hammered each one into the surface of the destiny stone, a faint black cloud moving from her and out over it. "Master, I've done it." Feeling her grip falter, she screamed as she was pulled backwards through the air, her eyes wide with terror. "Lord Deamon! I'm..."

Then the pull stopped as a loud surprised yell reached her from behind, just before her body impacted a large warm body that grabbed her out of instinct. "You?" Glaring upwards, she grunted, as Angemon wasted no time in dropping her to the ground.

Pushing herself up with as much dignity as she could, LadyDevimon allowed one fang to poke out her lower lip as she grinned. "Heh, guess what, now I'm the most powerful again."

Lashing out with all ten of her clawed fingers, she didn't really react as she spotted something large and yellow heading towards. "Tail Hammer!" But the yell did jolt her fast enough to really feel the moment several hundred kilo's impacted her side, sending her crashing into the far off corner of the room. "Angemon, what happened?"

Facing Ankylomon, Angemon clenched up his hand in anger, whatever LadyDevimon had done to the destiny stone, had clearly reversed the power flow he had experience. "TK, you okay up there?" Moving towards his partner, he noticed the lightly dazed expression he had. "TK, I'm sorry, I almost had her, that power, it."

Stopping his sentence, he watched with TK as darkness fully covered the destiny stone, it golden rings beginning to show signs of actually rusting. "TK, what happening?"

"I infected it, as Babel wanted me too." Spitting out the words, LadyDevimon grinned as she walked out of the shadows, her right arm once more transformed into a sharp blade. "Now its power will be lost forever, and the whole southern region of the digital world will be corrupted."

Eyes snapping open at that comment, Cody felt his anger rise as he hands clenched up. "You, how can you do something like that?" Stomping forward along with Ankylomon, he glared at the female, devil like digimon. "What about all the digimons in those areas, do you even care about them?"

From his place, TK watched as Cody ranted lose at a ticked off LadyDevimon, his own anger fading away as he for the first time, felt a connection with the younger boy, like the faint of beatings of a heart. "Cody!"

Hearing the voice, Cody turned around as he too become aware of the faint sound of something else. "TK!" Then the world exploded in light as both of their digivice gave off aloud whine. "This is, TK?"

Nodding in confirmation, he turned to regard Angemon who had begun to glow with a faint bluish white aura. "Angemon, are you ready?"

At his place, Cody had faced Ankylomon, the large digimon glowing with a rust colored aura bathing his partner in a soft light. "Do you feel up to it Ankylomon?"

The reply came from both digimons in a perfect sync as their glowing auras mixed. "Yes."

Snorting as she moved forward, LadyDevimon aimed her sword right at Angemon chest, her full attention on the simple prospect of impaling him when she noticed something moving towards her in the corner of her eyes. "Who?"

"Harpoon Torpedo!"

Screaming as she ducked each of the large explosives, she watched a third human boy smirking as he yelled encouragements to his digimon partner, a digimon, she had seen before. "You, you're one of." Turning to face the Angemon, she felt her spirit falter as she fully recognized him. "It can't be."

"Angemon!"

"Ankylomon!"

Turning her attention away from Ikkakumon, LadyDevimon eyes snapped wide open as she watched the two digimons she had focused almost completely on flow closer together, both of them turning into stands of light that flowed into each of each perfectly. "No, Darkness!"

Duck away as another harpoon torpedo nearly hit her, she hissed as she found herself in a bad position to launch a perfect attack from. "Forget it, I'm out of here, my mission's over with anyway." Taking off and heading towards the tunnel entrance, she froze as another two digimons emerged into the room.

Spreading out her arms and letting her claws show, she snarled as she focused on the taller, slower digimon. "Move it, or I'll kill you." Moving forward again as she spat out the threat, she let out a frown as the digimon, did nothing? "I said, move it!"

Smirking, Kingthmon simply used his shield to bang the devil like digimon backwards as she came close enough, Sylphimon shooting past him with a sphere of power already collected in his hands. "Static force!"

Screaming as she was set flying even further backwards, LadyDevimon cursed loudly as she got herself under control, her arms shooting out in a wide arc. "Darkness Wave!"

"Justice Beam!" And watched, as it was ripped apart by a thick, white beam of light that stinged as it gazed her arm, the pain bringing her down towards the ground, and towards that digimon, that fusion of the digimon who did in her former master, and that oversized lizard dog.

Towering up over everyone else in the room, the newly digivolved DNA digivolved digimon spread out it arms as several blinking lights went off on its bell shaped body with the strange, mask like head. "TK, Cody, do not fear, we shall handle this, no evil can hope to overcome the power of Shakkoumon."

Yelling out with several loud curses, LadyDevimon turned in desperation, her eyes landing on the doorway with a jarred expression as yet another digimon joined the group there. "No, I, I have failed." Closing her eyes, she gave a low sigh as she reformed her blade arm.

Moving slightly forward, Shakkoumon gazed up at the digimon above, the part of him made up by Ankylomon's traits, still felt the need to at least try one last time at making her surrender peacefully. "LadyDevimon, came with us, you don't have to do these things anymore, we can show you..."

"Shut up!" Spitting out the words, LadyDevimon snapped her eyes fully open as a dark grin filled her face. "I have no need for you, your ideals! You've taken everything from me, everything! Just like back then." Angling downwards, she shot off as fast as she could, all of her remaining power and strength put into one last attack. "For Lord Deamon! Evil Wing!"

Reacting more out of instant then through agreement, Shakkoumon felt power well up as he snapped his large, pupil free eyes wide open, a beam of intense, pure light shooting out form each eyeball. "Justice Beam!" The attack scoring a perfect hit on the female digimons body, the force ripping through her as LadyDevimon let out a scream of utter pain and suffering just before her body was blown apart by the attack.

Feeling a wave of shock, regret and disgust flow through him, Cody looked away as he knew that she had deserved it, but it still felt wrong to him to have been part of doing that.

"You're right."

Turning to regard TK, He froze as he saw the boy gaze at him. "It never feels right to delete a digimon, but sometimes, you just have to. They simply leave you with no other choice." Walking away from him as he finished, Cody followed TK with his eyes. "Keep a hold of your beliefs Cody, they might keep you from getting as dark a look at the world as I have."

Looking up as his rant finished, TK gazed as the destiny stone, the darkness around it having begun to diminish and fade away ever so slowly. "At least the destiny stone is saved." Reaching out a hand, he stumbled backwards as sudden violent shake tore through the room. "What the?"

In the doorway, Izzy gave a pretty swear word as he gaze at the stone. "The darkness, it's not fading away, it's infecting it." Snapping out the words as he gazed at the data on his computer, he swore once more and turned to regard the others. "Quick, we have to get out of here, this place is done for."

Filling out of the room, Tai stood still as he watched the destiny stone give off a loud cracking sound as the darkness was replaced with a dark, crimson colored light flaring out through a multitude of small holes and lines. "Babel, is this, your true dream for this world?"

"Tai!"

Running out of the room at the yell from his sister, he didn't see how a thick, powerful red beam of light flared upwards from the destiny stone, nor did he see as the volcano's upper layer of cooled off magma get blown up as the beam continued to clip into the sky.

Reaching the exit, the group of digi destined and digimons froze as all they could see above them were angry storm clouds swirling around the volcano, a hot, fiery glowing coming from just above.

And with a sinking feeling as they took off again, Tai looked back at the volcano as the whole area began to shake, rocks tumbling around in random directions. "I can't believe it, he, he's going to destroy everything."

* * *

Silence filled the desert region as the last, pain filled scream died down, the only sound reaching her ears coming in the form of ragged breaths of air as the might, dark skinned creature pushed himself up on his hands.

"Is it over?"

Turning his head at the nervous question, he regarded the exhausted, yet frighten into complete awareness, Jun Motomiya as the girl, hesitantly, walked closer. "Yes, the pain has faded."

Moving into a sitting position, Blackwargreymon regarded the distant, southern horizon with a critical eye, scanning the massive storm forming over it with the patience he had grown in the last few hours. "Child? Do you have any idea what's going on over there?"

Regarding the southern horizon as well, Jun frowned as she came up blank. Nowhere in all of his bragging and outlaying of plans had Babel mentioned something like that. So why was it happening, or could it be, that Tai and the others had something to do with it, or even Oikawa.

Opening her mouth to reply, she snapped it shut, as the storm clouds were ripped apart by a massive windblast, the removal of the thick cover revealing something else that had her stepping back in shock. "The sky, it's, darkening." Her words earning a nod form Blackwargreymon as both of them watched the sky turn dark, then it was hidden from them as clouds covered up the horizon again. "I couldn't even see a star up there."

Regarding his hand, Blackwargreymon nodded to himself as he jabbed it back into his gauntlet. "Human, we must learn more of it, whatever happened over there, must be what effected me." Not even waiting for an answer from her, he took of walking with a determined air about him.

And behind him, Jun sighed, as she was once again trust into a half run just to keep up with him. "You know, it would be nice if we could get some sleep sometime you know." Her words falling on ignoring ears as the looming figure marched off with the same kind of attitude about him, that she had had just a month ago.

* * *

Watching the monitors before him with a careless expression, Babel almost seemed on the verge of yawning as the connection was turned off. "So, she failed as well." Folding his hands in front of him, he smirked as he watched the other screens turned in on the southern parts of the digital world. "Still, she succeeded in corrupting the stone."

Next to him, Skullsatamon simply nodded in agreement as he felt no loss at the death of her, Marinedevimon had been different; he had been a long time companion in the dark area, the digimon who brought him to Lord Deamon. LadyDevimon had shown up later, ranting about her lost battle and her mighty lord Piedmon.

Bah, the clown king had fallen, as had he once, and countless others. The digi destined shouldn't have been downplayed by any of them. "Master Babel, I humbly request."

"Denied." uttering out the word with a lightly hint of amusement in his voice, Babel turned his head a bit to the side as he gazed at the shadow of his companion. "I have someone else who wants a crack at them first, and this ones been waiting so long for his turn."

Standing up and marching over to the door, he grinned as it snapped open and allowed the person outside to enter, ice blue eyes gazing into his own, and form behind him came another figure. "So, I trust the two of you are ready?" Leveling his focus on the first to enter, he allowed a true smile to fill his face. "My dear Michael, Catherine, your mission is simply. I want you to kill the digi destined and corrupt the next two destiny stones."

As soon as he had finished talking, Babel simply let out a smirk as he watched first Michael, then Catherine kneel before him, both of them showing the respect a genius and a born ruler like him deserved. "Go, at the first light of tomorrow, seek out each stone, and complete your mission."

Still kneeling with his head bowed, Michael allowed a smirk of his own to form, a small fang poking out over his lower lip as he suppressed a dark chuckle. "Trust me Master Babel, it shall be done, and I will personally see too it that the traitor Yagami and the digi destined, are destroyed for all time."

At the side of Babel, Skullsatamon allowed his eyes to briefly flare up with amusement, the foolish humans who had once been on the side of light, one more then the other, corrupted to this level, even to a morbid and cold hearted digimon like him, it was amusing.

And when Lord Deamon crosses over at last, the charade would end at last, and the age of darkness begin for good. And then, even a corrupted human like Babel would find himself humbled before the true master of the Digital World, the Real World and the Dark Area.

Humans were weak, arrogant and meant only to serve.

How he had lost in the past he had never really figured out, only that it had to have been because of that stupid prophecy. But now, unlike then, there was no foretelling, no ancient babble to aid them, no higher force to lend them the needed power to win this war.

The digi destined would be on their own for once, and as such.

They would be easy prey.

* * *

Tbc: The Secret of the Destiny Stones part three.

AN: The next chapter will have the digi destined dealing with two destiny stones, as well as another massive battle. I'm doing this to speed up the story, as I fear that the parts with the destiny stones will be pretty tame. And as it had been noted, I am killing off bad guys here and there, and it is my plan to have reduced the number of bad guys to only three in the near future.

As for Babel, I got a very good idea in mind for him, one that will shock a lot of people I guess. And no, despite the comment of him trying to fuse himself with a digimon, it won't be that. Myotismon will also have his big act to play out soon, and it will take place right in the heart of Odaiba at a special holiday concert.

Yes, the one from the show. But I'll be using it as his big come back stunt.

And his fate will be different from that of the show.

So people, I'm predicting that three will only be another 6 to 7 chapters left.

As if I haven't said that before in another story.


	23. Part XXIII

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Summery: AU, very AU and dark, with mentioning of torture, violence and blood drinking.

Things have never looked grimmer, as digi destined goes up against digi destined. Have Michael really lost it and willingly joined the side of Darkness, and what is Babel's true motive for seeking to destroy all. And what of the mysterious virus that everyone fears, what is it secret, and how is it connected to events in the past.

* * *

Spawn of the vampire  
The Secret of the Destiny Stones  
Part three.

* * *

Staring at the map before him for what felt like the hundredth time, Izzy felt like smashing his hand into something hard for the first time ever. "It, it's too much." The words spat out, he gazed at the flickering squares of the digital worlds southern parts. "It's completely overrun by darkness now, corrupted."

Behind him, the remaining digi destined of the original team let out a deep breath each as they could also feel the conflicting emotions brought on by seeing such a thing. "What, what happened to all the digimons there, are they, infected by the darkness? Or dead?"

"Never mind them, what if that happens to the rest of the digital world?" Joe muttered out as he pushed himself out the small chair he had been sitting in. "This could be worse then what we saw four years ago."

Glancing over at Sora who had remained silent for most of the day, Izzy sighed as he swirled his chair around. "Joe, Sora Mimi." Getting their attention, Izzy gave each one a grave look. "We never discussed this before, but we might have to do something more then actively fight to protect the destiny stones."

Pulling of his glasses and wiping them of softly, Joe half closed his eyes as he thought back on a few of the conversations he had had with Izzy and the others. "You want to bring the digimons here, don't you remember what happened all those years ago?"

"There may not be any other choice." Sora breathed out as she finally stood up, her eyes showing a level of tiredness the others hadn't really seen in her before. "But for now, let's put out trust in the others, they may be able to turn the tide in this war."

* * *

"Nail Bone!" Energy ripping out across the simple ocean surface, Skullsatamon laughed a cold grin as Sylphimon and Paildramon rushed to escape the attack. "Really, don't you fools think it's time you get your act together?" Twirling his staff as a group of Neodevimons floated down to flank him, he let out a small chuckle. "Truly, none of you are worthy of my time."

Turning around to leave, he cast a cold glance over his shoulder at each of them. "You may kill them now, but remember, leave some for Babel to gloat over." Shooting off, the undead digimon ignored the sounds of a more heated battle starting up behind him.

And while he really wanted to stay and crush them, he had no time for that, the hour of the gate opening was almost at hand, and by that time, the corrupting of the digital world had to be complete. "And those humans, to think they will be better suited for something like this." No, to prepare everything for Lord Deamon's return, he had been forced to take action on his own.

Reaching the center of the so-called eternal maelstrom, he glanced down at the dark, cold waters spiraling around a large jagged stone pillar with a look of scorn. "Really, all of this power, wasted on something like this." Nose diving down with that comment, the skeleton like digimon pulled out a small dark purple glowing orb. "And so, we enter the next stage."

Trusting his staff out as a evil light began to radiate from it, the undead digimon chuckled as the sight of the destiny stone of Xuanwumon came into view, nestled in deep between massive coral reefs and long dead clamps and oysters. "Lord Deamon, this, is for you."

Moving to toss the stone forward, he let out a loud grunt as powerful force ripped into his unprotected back, the searing pain of holy power tearing through him. "So, you two are also here?" His vice mocking in its delight, the undead digimon regarded the behemoth of a digimon rising up from behind a coral reef. "Very well, I have been waiting for a rematch, and even if you're not like I remember you, I shall none the less destroy you."

Holding up his arm, Shakkoumon iris less eyes glowed as the ring of jewels on his armor flashed briefly. "Kachina bomb!" The words followed by a small hatch snapping open to allow several small, disk like objects to fly out at several kilometers an hour.

Staring at the disks with an insulted feel to him, Skullsatamon calmly swung his staff in a wide arc, each disk getting knocked out of his way. "Come now, you call that an attack?" Gathering up power, he let out a small chuckle as he pointed his bony staff weapon downwards. "Nail Bone!"

Ripping across the distance, the attack smashed right into Shakkoumon's left shoulder, the large digimon letting out a moaning sound as he crashed over backwards. "Not very talk active are you?"

Flying downwards now that he had a opening, Skullsatamon let out a chilling laugh as his attack scored a direct hit, the small orb shattering on contact and allowed a could of darkness to seep out and cover the destiny stone of water. "And so you fail again, even with the boost from this stone, you couldn't match me."

Hovering upwards with a superior attitude, the undead digimon glance down at the recovering digimon. "You know, I should kill you right now, but I think this is as much of a betrayal that I can allow myself to do at the moment." Fading away as a rippling went through the maelstrom around them, he chuckled as Shakkoumon grabbed two human kids and began to leave. "I hope you defeat those brats kid, for if you do, I can be the one to kill you."

The last thing he watched was the sudden downpour of water as it cascade down in a violent roar, actually succeeding in tearing the destiny stone lose and pulling it down into a cold and dark watery grave. "Survive kid, until our final encounter, that is all I ask of you."

As he reemerged from his teleport, the large undead digimon found himself standing on top of a hourglass shaped pyramid, a vast desert bathed in the cold light of a white moon spread out around the pyramid. "My lord Deamon, the digital world trembles as chaos spread out across."

Kneeling down as he spoke, he didn't flinch as the ground before him parted and allowed a small round deck to rise up from within the pyramid. "The gates are weakening, I can feel it." Looking up as he spoke, he took a moment to adjust his sight as a thin green pillar of light arose.

"You have done well, Skullsatamon, far better then the others." As the voice grew in strength, the outline of a massive, robe wearing digimon's upper body formed, thin, glowing eyes staring straight at him. "Continue working with Babel for now, I need as much chaos as possible for my return."

Bowing deeply, Skullsatamon smirked as he dared to look up. "My lord, when you return, will you, revive the others again?"

Greeting the question with silence, Deamon finally chuckled as the image began to fade away. "See to my liberation first Skullsatamon, first then I shall ponder if they are worthy of revival." Fading away completely, the only presence of Deamon left behind were the small deck slowly sinking back into the pyramid floor.

As soon as everything was back to normal, Skullsatamon stood up, one hand clenching and unclenching as he gazed up at the moon above, the pale thing giving the appearance of being as confused as him. "Lord Deamon, I shall do as you wish."

* * *

"He disobeyed me?" Babel muttered out as he watched the screen before, another sector of the digital world descend into a corrupted state of chaos and disorder. "I don't believe it." Smashing one hand down on his control panel, he spun around to face the two humans behind him. "You two get moving."

Pointing at the door, the would be ruler of the digital world found himself alone with his brooding thoughts as his new servants left to carry out his order.

Once again someone on his side had gone and done something he had not expected. An order he had given had been ignored, and now he was forced into pondering this turn of event, comparing it with the same events surrounding the way Blackgatomon and Taichi had betrayed him.

And if that wasn't bad enough, he now had to deal with Jun as well, the girl had escaped after Michael's first failure, and from what he had gotten out of digimons captured by his servants, she was traveling with the enigma Blackwargreymon.

The large lump of control towers was the last left over part of Oikawa and Myotismon's brief presence in his life. Who knew what he was up to now that his creators were dead, well, besides killing off anything in his path. "She's a problem."

"Who is, my lord?" Came the cold and uncaring voice of Skullsatamon as undead digimon simply stepped out of the deepest shadow in the control room, the sudden arrival of him earning him a small jump from the human. "Sorry if I scared you, I have just returned from."

Cutting off the digimon with a wave of his hand, Babel glared up at him as he pushed himself up. "I know where you have been Skullsatamon." Turning to watch the map of the digital world as it turned completely dark in the southern parts, the young man slammed one hand down on the off switch. "I told you to stand down and let my new servants handle this matter, what part of that didn't you understand?"

Frowning at the tone of voice from the boy, Skullsatamon adjusted the grip of his finger on his staff as he briefly toyed with the notion of removing the weakling from his presence once and for all. "Have you forgotten the pact human?" Snapping out the words and startling Babel, Skullsatamon stood up in his full height, his eyes glowing with the undead life he possessed. "You allied yourself with Lord Deamon, promising to bring him back to this world, in return we gave you the knowledge to create your fake digimons, we told you everything you would need."

Stepping closer and sending Babel tumbling back into his command chair, the undead digimon let out a small grunt of dissatisfaction. "The age of darkness is almost here and I will not let anyone, be they human or digimon, stand in the way of it coming. Do you understand?" Getting a nod from Babel, Skullsatamon stepped back and allowed himself to fade away into the shadows.

And once more alone in his command room, Babel eyes smoldered as rage built up within him, the need to lass out and hurt someone growing with each passing second.

The only thing stopping him from attacking was the beeping sound from his control panel. "What is it?" Snapping at the Bakemon calling him, he froze as he watched the tube behind the ghost digimon. "He's done already, my, my." Standing up as he watched the screen more carefully, he let out a dark chuckle. "Very well, prepare for my arrival, I must see to his programming at once."

With this, everything might still turn out in his favor after all, all Michael and Catherine had to do was win, and everything would be fine.

They just had too. Cause there was no way he would ever accept a lifetime of serving a monster like Deamon.

Not when he was meant to rule everything himself.

* * *

Staring glumly at the computer screen, Davis didn't even have the mood to try and crack a joke. Everything that could have gone wrong had gone wrong today. Another Destiny stone was corrupted and even more of the digital world had been lost to chaos and darkness.

And while he longed to blame it all on TK, it wouldn't help one bit. In fact, there was only thing to blame for this whole mess. "We're too weak." Muttering out the words, he looked up at the other kids as they gave him their attention. "Even with the boost from the destiny stone we couldn't do anything."

Flinching a bit at the comment, TK found himself agreeing with Davis on that comment. And while he hated to admit it, they were hard pressed and running out of time. "We need something to take them by surprise, or find a way to digivolve our digimons to their mega levels."

"Mega level?" Came the curious question form the young boy sitting in the corner, Cody's attention turning completely onto the conversation and not into blaming himself further.

Glancing around the room, Izzy nodded more to himself then the others as he retook possession of his labtop, his fingers running across the keyboard rapidly as he changed from program from digi-map to digi-scan. "Mega level, so far only two of our digimons have ever gone that high."

Turning the labtop around to show the others, the red haired kid clicked the enter key and bought up two images of them with stats under each one. "Metal-Garurumon and Phoenixmon."

The first one was a metallic looking Garurumon with a feel of raw power and unstoppable strength. The other one were a yellow, orange looking bird with four wings, a mask and a general feeling of mystical power to it.

Looking closer at the images, Yolei grinned as she looked up with a wide smirk on her face. "Alright Izzy, so how did you get to the mega level, some neat trinket or a special wish?" Clenching up one hand in front of her as she thought about the possibility of Sylphimon reaching mega level. "Can you do it so all our digimons can go mega?"

"No." Izzy mumbled out as he lowered his gaze. "We barely made it the first time." Looking over at Joe for support in revealing that, he gave a weak smile as the oldest of them took over.

Gazing both at the newer digi destined, Joe could also see himself staring at the past. "We were losing back then, the miracle off Davis saving Kari from Myotismon had given us a boost of confidence." Taking a break in the story at that point, Joe gazed down at a nervous looking Kari and TK. "Then he returned, as a mega digimon, we tried to stop him but couldn't."

Taking over form there, Kari stared at her brother, as he looked rather uneasy at the story. "I was, still upset with my brother death, when Gennai told us of a ancient prophecy, that we had to hit the love ones of light and hope with arrows."

Izzy nodded at her as she seemed to be too reluctant to continue. "We were in trouble, so we tried out best to figure out to make it work, Tai was gone, and as far as we knew, he was one of those we needed." Growing somewhat muted in his explanation, Izzy looked over at Sora. "Then, Sora volunteered to take your place Tai, she said that she was sure you'd have wanted it."

"I don't know how, but it worked." Sora continued as she leaned against the wall, an uneasy look in her eyes. I think it was, just her admiration and our friendship that made it work. "Biyomon warp digivolved along with Gabumon and we won, it was hard, but we won."

Working away at his labtop, Izzy looked up as Sora finished talking. "Still, this won't work for you, we have to find another way." Returning his attention to the screen, he mumbled out a few words as he worked silently. "Those destiny stones, you said they gave your digimons a power boost when you were fighting near them, if so, they might be able to help you, if I can figure out how to drew out their power."

Jumping down from where he had moved to sit down, Davis grinned as he thought about it. "Okay, so next time we meet that loser Skullsatamon, me and Veemon will kick his bony butt!" Smirking at his joke, Davis stopped as he noticed Izzy staring at him with a look of annoyance. "Let me guess, you want us to leave you alone to work on that."

No even bothering to wait for an answer, the messy, red haired boy turned around and left. A small chuckle coming from him as he walked out of the room. "Just think of it Veemon, you'll be able to become even stronger."

Glancing after them, Kari shook her head a bit before glancing down at her wristwatch. "Hey Izzy, you better hold off on that, schools starts in 30 minutes, and I can't afford to be late again." Turning to face her brother, she gave a quick hug and a big smile. "Try and stay out of trouble okay, with Skullsatamon corrupting the digital world, we shouldn't enter into it alone."

Grumbling a few choice words as his sister left, Tai shrugged as he once again found himself with another day all to himself. "Eh, hey Izzy." Regarding the red haired kid with the labtop, Tai briefly wondered if he would have found it as annoying to talk with someone constantly using a computer if he had known him a bit more. "I'm going to take a walk around town, so, it was nice visiting you."

Waving his hand in greeting as the messy haired by left the room, Izzy kept glancing at the data he had received over the last few days. "Hmm, looks like it can be done, but I need more information." Standing up, he sighed as he looked up at the clock on the wall. "Great, just enough time to make it school, I should be able to get in some more work while I'm there."

* * *

Sitting in her chair, Mimi blew a single strand of hair out of her field of vision, one hand hovering just above the remote for the TV, the same TV blaring out another commercial for some kind of skin product. "Palmon, tell me you have figured out something we can do?"

From her in the sofa, the plant like digimon did her best to shrug while sucking up some imported mineral water from a small lunch plate.

Sighing loudly at her digimons partner's response, Mimi stood up and glanced out the window, the glittering city of New York spread out before her. "I can believe that they grounded me for a month." Resting her hands on the window still as she spoke, Mimi glanced down at the streets far below. "But did they have to take my cell phone and computer way."

Having finished her meal, Palmon shook her vines to clear them of water before jumping down from the sofa. "I think the little argument you had with your parents caused it." Her eyes following her human partner as the pink haired girl stalked around the living room. "Besides, if the computer were home, you'd just try to access the digital world."

"Of course I would, haven't you seen the news." Mimi nearly spat back as she turned to face her digimon partner, one hand pointing at the TV still showing commercials. "Everything's going wacko out there, the problems from the digital world are getting into the real world again."

As the pink haired girl spoke, Palmon found herself staring at the TV where another report on the strange problems with the computer and other electronics systems in parts of Europe, all of Russia and the western regions of China were once more commented on. "Hey Mimi, I think they saying something new about it."

Turning around to face the TV at the reply form her partner, Mimi frowned as static images from Australia and South America were getting shown, most of them from the land of the kangaroo. "What's going on here? Why haven't the others tried to contact me yet?"

Rubbing one hand through the flower that counted for her hair, Palmon let out a small laugh. "Well, maybe they have, and, well without your computer, you won't know about it."

"There's the phone!" Came the yelled back reply as Mimi dropped down in the chair again, her arms crossed in front of her as she felt like yelling even more, but knew it wouldn't help her. "If only I could get into Dad's room. He still has his computer."

Glaring over at Mimi, Palmon did her best to suppress the urge to sigh as her partner showed her rather stubborn side once more. "Well, we can't remember? Your father said he'd send me off to a research lab and you to a boarding school if you just up and left like that again."

Letting out a breath of air, Mimi grunted as she dropped down onto the sofa with a depressed look. "I know, I know, but really. I just have this feeling, that we're all need for this again." Sitting up and tapping her chin in a thinking manner, she finally groaned and dropped down on the sofa. "I just wish mom wouldn't have spent the whole time crying and calling you a demon spawned monster bent on kidnapping me."

Letting out a cough at that unpleasant memory, Palmon focused on what was most important, getting Mimi into a good mood and making her understand that if things were really that dangerous right now, the last thing anyone needed was to just jump in through a digital gate and into who knew what kind of a mess.

On the sofa, Mimi thoughts were running a far more different way, her eyes half-closed as he began to focus on what she could say to her parents so they'd understand that her role as a digi destined was more important then attending school and meeting the right people as they so lovingly put it. "Palmon?"

"No." Replying with as much force as she dared, Palmon didn't turn around to watch as the sounds of Mimi moving around reached her. "If there really are such a big danger to the digital world, don't you think the others would have called for us by now"

Dropping back down on eh couch, Mimi grunted as even in her most determined state she had to admit that it was true, but then again, had something like that ever stopped her or the others from going to help no matter how big or small a problem it was. "Palmon."

And this time, the plant type digimon didn't respond as it would have proven useless, from her partners tone of voice, she just knew arguing would be pointless. "Mimi, don't." Stopping her talk as the brown eyes focused on her, she sighed and bowed her head in defeat as she surrendered once more to her partner's whim. "What do you want me to do Mimi?"

Giggling as she stood up, one hand already running through her hair to smooth it down, the young girl had already begun to mentally run over a small list in her head. "Palmon, try and break through the door into dad's room okay, and I'll go pack some clothes for this."

"Mimi?" Letting out her nervousness at the situation, the plant type digimon watched as her partner rushed into her bedroom, a pink tank top flying out as the sound of several drawers getting opened reached her. "This is all his fault."

Turning to face the door into Mr. Tachikawa's home office, Palmon sighed for the untold time as she flexed her vines, just knowing she would be feeling this for a long time. "Poison Ivy!"

Inside her bedroom, Mimi grinned as she finished packing down the last stuff she'd need, one hand hovering a bit in the air before stuffing a credit card into it. "Sorry mom, I'll try and leave some money for you." Turning around, she hefted up the bag she packed and walked out to see how her partner had fared against the door.

Standing before the bent, broken wooden door, Palmon simply turned to face Mimi as the girl walked into the room, her free hand lifting up her digivice while one finger hit the on switch on the computer. "Mimi, are you really sure about this?"

Looking over her shoulder as the log in music played, Mimi gave her best smile to reassure her partner digimon, her bag getting planted on the floor as she quickly entered in the password and hit enter. "Relax Palmon, this will be the last time okay, whatever this whole mess is about, we'll stay long enough to help with it, after that I'll come home and accept whatever punishment they think I'll deserve."

As the digi port opened up before them, Palmon had a last thought before getting sucked into the digital world, her mind trying to figure out how her partner could be grown up one moment, and then doing something like this. "This is just a trick to see Taichi again isn't it?"

Smiling at the question, Mimi wisely kept her reply to herself. After all, Palmon wouldn't let her live it down if she admitted that seeing that messy haired boy again had something to do with it.

* * *

Crossing her arms in an attempt to provide a though look as she took in the sight of destruction before her, Jun still felt the sting of a small stab of sadness, knowing that even if she wanted to rule this world, and her means of ensuring her claim to a area had been cruel, and evil, it had never reached a level such as this.

The whole city was gone from the looks of it, a massive burnt out wreck of a main hut laying destroyed before her, the only wind blowing through the area carrying with it the stench of burnt out ruins. "Did you find anyone to question?" Her inquiry aimed at the dark colored digimon walking out from a somewhat intact building,

Ignoring the glances sent her way as the digimon stopped moving, Jun felt a small mental smile form as she finally had managed to at least get used to his presence. "So, what do you think of this? It's the third place we've seen that looks like a war marched though it."

Moving his focus form the messy haired girl to the plains to the north, Blackwargreymon eyes narrowed in a thoughtful frown as he crossed his own arms. "Whoever it was who did this, they're not far away, the backside of the hut was still warm."

Faltering a bit at that, Jun snapped her head around to glare at him. "So why are we here, if the digimons wants to destroy themselves, then so be it."

Looming up over her as he gave his full attention to her, Blackwargraymon didn't say much as she ranted on, his yellow colored eyes remaining indifferent even as she finished talking. "Human, this is why I doubt you, do you not see what this will lead to?"

Holding out his arms as he finished talking, Blackwargreymon didn't say much as he watched the various emotions running across Jun's face. "This isn't about what they want, you've seen the destruction and the damage, this is more then just a few crazy digimons, this is all of them going crazy."

Nearly biting the inside of his cheek as she spun around to avoid the look he was giving her, Jun froze as she spotted several small shapes staring at them from the edge of town. "Humph, see, they're not crazy, you are." Striking her commanding position with a full amount of confidence in herself, Jun took on step forward, before getting pushed aside by Blackwargraymon. "What?"

Narrowing his eyes as he watched the digimons, Blackwargraymon let out a growl as the digimons began to fan out, clearly moving to surround them. "Girl, if you value your life, you will run for cover now." Not waiting for a response, the large dinosaur like man formed a growing sphere of red energy in his hands. "Terror Destroyer!"

Stumbling back as her allied partner fired off his attack, Jun grunted as she turned to do as he had said, mouth turning into a thin line of anger as she walked off. "Who does he think he is anyway, just because he's a powerful copy of a mega level digimon doesn't give him the right to."

Ending her talk, Jun stared as two digimons staggered into her field of vision, both of them Fangmons with foam around theirs mouth as their much darker skinned bodies began to tense up for an attack. "Hey, um, back off now, you hear me!"

Stepping back as the two dog like digimons began to advance on her, she cringed when the first one took off jumping. Its jaws wide open. "Golemon Punch!" The attack getting broken off as a large fist made up of yellow brown rock smashed into the first of the Fangmons, its body flying off to impact a nearby ruin.

Stepping further back as the golem like digimon tore its way out of the building it had been hiding in, Jun held back her scream of surprise as the remaining Fangmon moved into action, it's mouth snapping open as it turned to face the Golemon who had attacked its hunting partner. "Blast Coffin!"

"Damn it!" Turning around and running off, Jun stopped short after less then five steps as another Golemon came flying past as it's body beginning to break apart. "Blackwargreymon, it have better be you who did that dammit?"

Simply grunting in response at the verbal assault, Blackwargreymon landed right before Jun, his eyes taking in the sight of the Golemon crushing the second Fangmon beneath it's foot, it's head focusing on the first one limping back into the fight. "We're leaving, there is nothing more for us to learn here."

Despite his arm lifting her up somewhat unpleasantly at first, Jun still decided kept her mouth shut as she spotted the look of annoyance on his face as the dinosaur like man took of flying, the sound of a increasing fight breaking out below them. "What, what was that all about?"

Looking down as a BlackTyrannomon and a normal Tyrannomon broke out in a fight, Blackwargreymon closed his eyes as he moved to head in the correct direction. "That child, was the effect of whatever happened around here, and after seeing it, I want some answers more then ever."

Increasing his speed, Blackwargreymon kept moving towards the eastern parts of the digital world, his mind overflowing with even more questions as he observed small and large bands of digimons tearing into each other, all of it broke occasionally by the wandering of a roaring digimon traveling across the plains on its own.

"It has to be Babel who did it?" Her voice nothing more then a whisper as she took in the corrupted look of the land, the way the very nature of the digital world seemed to be falling apart. "Did he plan for this all along? How can anyone even want to rule a world that's dying?"

Not answering her, Blackwargreymon mind was locked on a single task as he found a faint pulling reaching his mind, a feeling that he should be heading north instead. And it took a great deal of his free will, he had to admit that, to ignore the growing need and focus on what he wanted to do.

He could explore that now, what was more important was to find out how the digital world was getting this corrupted and in such a short time. "Jun was it? I would hold on tighter if I were you." Increasing his speed as he spoke, he also blocked out any kind of complaints or interruption he might feel.

* * *

Stretching out before her, Mimi had to admire the massive hills filling the area of the digital world she was in. The only thing breaking the tall grassy areas and rolling lumps of earth, came in the form of small streams and clusters of trees.

All in all, it looked so much like the places she had seen in some commercials back home. "Palmon, do you know anything about this place?"

From her place, Palmon were as busy as her partner in looking around the beautiful area that she barely heard the question at all. "I'm sorry Mimi, but I'm more of a forest digimon, I don't spend much time in places like these." Her mouth closing, Palmon kept her eyes trained on a small spot in the distance. "Mimi, can you hear something?"

Frowning at the sudden seriousness, and lack of annoyance in Palmon's voice, Mimi found herself block out as much of the scenery as she could, her eyes and eyes straining to find out what Palmon had been talking about. "You know, I think I can hear something flying, but..."

Whatever she had meant to say were drowned out as a large fiery explosion tore up over a distant hill, chucks of dirt large enough for her to see flying off in every direction. "Okay, now that I did see and hear?"

"Good." Palmon spoke out as she looked up at the sky. "Cause there comes another one."

Moving her eyes upwards at the comment from her digimon partner, Mimi stared in muted surrpise as a digimon flew past overheard, a series of powerful flashes of light following after it before the digimon let out a scream as it blow up in a cloud of digital data. "Palmon, I really, really think we should start running now."

Nodding in agreement as a loud roar reached them, the two began to backpaddel as fast as they could, both of them keeping a sharp eye open for whatever it was that could have been the sourche of the damage.

Behind them, a group of tree went up in flames as a large, dark colored shape tore through the burning surroundings, a red glow lighting up around it as a series of red hot light beams shot out from it.

Above the large shape, another one flow slowly across the sky as a loud screaming cry was released. The source turning out to be two smaller digimons that had been hiding nearby hoping to escaped, but had still been spotted and dealt with.

"There is one of them nearby." the voice was cold, uncaring and held the promise of pain as long, golden colored hair pulled together in a tight braid whipped swiftly from side to side in the hot updraft created from the fires. "Shall we use this to lure out the other ones?"

Sitting lazily on the back of his new partner, Michael regarded the signal on his own updated digivice as Catherine spoke to him. "If you will, our primary target is close enough to afford a small distraction, just remember, she must be able to call for help."

Grinning darkly as she let out a shrill whistle, the blond haired French girl stood up and grinned as her new partner swept down to grab her, his inhuman form making her smirk with delight of the way he would scared the digi destined when they went up against them. "Come Karatenmon, we're going hunting for digi destined."

Holding her gently as she spoke, the mixture of a human and bird took of flying, the two of following after the signal on Catherine's digivice.

Looking after her, Michael's face split into a wide grin as he began to work rapidly, his fingers quickly punching in a series of letter as he wrote out a quick mail. "Yagami, out last battle may have ended in your favor, but this time, I got the superior firepower, and you are the only one I wish to fight."

Hitting the send button, he lifted up his head and gazed right ahead at the series of large, hills growing in the distance, knowing that what he was seeking was behind them. "And Server's Stonehenge will be our final battle ground, after you have watched me destroy the destiny stone of Baihumon!"

* * *

After several fruitless hours of searching for something to do, Tai finally found himself in a place he would never have consider coming in the first place, a public library, the home of vast, free knowledge, and absolutely nothing to do if you craved excitement.

But seeing as nothing even remotely exciting had shown up yet, all he had left to do was yawn and make his way into this place of books and, hopefully find something or someone to entertain him until the others got out of school.

Hey, he might not be entering into the digital world, but he might be able to figure out what to with himself. There was the fight with Babel, but what about afterwards, when he was beaten. Then what, should he return to school again, seek a career and try to fit in with his family and the world again.

His father hadn't spoken to him much, nor his mother, in fact, Kari was the only who seemed to have accepted his return from the digital world. "I wonder, should I even stay here." His voice soft as he spoke, he missed seeing the curios expression on a young boy with a rather feminine hairstyle standing with a group of kids dressed in gray uniforms like him.

Passing by the rows of history and fiction, Tai turned and settled down on a small chair as he foudn the one place he ever consider worth his time in a library, the comic section.

"Yagami?" His somewhat strained attention towards the comics currently up for loan broken, Tai turned to face the one who had spoken to him.

Finding a boy he had seen before, but never really spoken too, the other one of the group who had a dark past with the digital world, and the only other one to have been allowed into the group as well. "You're one of Kari's friends right, the one who was the digimon emperor, Ken."

Smiling a bit strained at the first part of the comments, Ken gave a short nod as he pulled his hand back, his eyes falling on the chair next to the one occupied by Tai. "You mind if I sit down?" Getting no response to the question, Ken shrugged and settled into the chair and looked down at the ground before him. "You know, I didn't expect to see you here, I doubt if any of the other digi destined would show up here jus like that."

Sighing as he focus on the boy next to him, Tai gave a faint smile as the younger boy might just be able to get some of the time he had left before he could meet up with the others to pass. "I didn't expect it myself, I'd never really cared much for reading, other then comics that is. I'd rather be outside playing soccer or just enjoying the outdoors."

Nodding in response, Ken looked up as he left out a deep breath of air. "Have you, you know, ever thought of what you did? About all those digimons that suffered because of our actions?"

Reeling back at the bluntness of the question, Tai closed his eyes as they words did more then just bring out painful memories. "No, I remember the events clearly, the way I liked to hurt them I gained satisfaction from it, and from other things as well."

Frowning at that last bit, Ken bit his lip to keep himself from commenting on it, he had heard about those things, about Mimi and Michael, mostly from what the angrier and less forgiving digi destined had mention. "I still feel horrible for what I did, I hurt so many, enslaved and destroyed. And in the end, I nearly destroyed the only who stuck by me the whole time, who believed in me."

Nodding this time around, Tai looked up as he thought back at his own past, the way he had kept Blackgatomon close as his only confident, no, his friend. He hadn't trusted anyone else but her until the day he had captured those two, Mimi and Michael. It hadn't been as intended as he had let on, they had merely stumbled onto one of his operations and he been forced to ensure they didn't speak of his presence to anyone else.

After that, things had snowballed, Mimi had brought out the parts of his old self that Blackgatomon had been able to do, and still, it hadn't done much. He was good now, and he was trying to help bring down Babel, but other then that, he felt out of place, things had changed in the real world, and it no longer made him feel at home here. "Do you, you know, ever feel out of place here, like you don't really belong?"

Regarding the older boy as he spoke, Ken bit his lip as the direction of the conversation was taking a turn he didn't like at all. If what he knew about this was right, he needed someone to talk to about it, someone who would understand this whole mess.

Trying to politely decline that he didn't know how it felt, the younger boy blinked as a sharp beep filled the air, the older messy haired boy looking a bit off guard as he pulled out his D3, a simple light flashing on it to signal that he had received a new message.

* * *

Crossing around another hill, Mimi froze as she nearly collide into a massively huge square boulder rising up into the air before her, the thing more then big enough to crush a couple of muscle cars if it fell over. "What the, what this thing doing here?" Spitting out the words, as she looked around, her mood dropped as even more of the same stones greeted her. "At least they can hide us."

Her words somewhat sarcastically, the pink loving human and her digimon partner did as she had just comment, using the large stone to hide behind as a loud roar filled the air. "Okay, I hate to say this, but I'm starting to think we shouldn't have come here."

Giving her partner the evil eye as she mentioned the obvious, Palmon grunted as she moved to cast a look back the way they had come, hoping to see just what it was they had been running from all this time. "Mimi, can you see anything?"

Poking her head around her side of the rock, Mimi shook her head as she was greeted with nothing but the large, grassy surface of a hill. "Ah, I can see a lot of grass, but other then that, it's a bit no Palmon, how about you?"

"You know, you'd be more lucky if you looked up." Came the amused comment from Catherine as she looked down as the shocked expressions that Palmon and Mimi gave her. "Now there is a true Kodak moment if there ever is one." Snapping her finger in a command way, she glanced up at Karatenmon next to her. "You know what to do."

Letting out a shrill bird cry as he tore free his swords, Karatenmon focused his attention down at Mimi, one of his wings spreading out in her direction. "Okay Digi Destined, Prepare to Die!" Letting lose with another loud birds cry, He dove off the rock, both swords flashing out as he drove right down towards his target. "Crow Swords!"

Screaming out loud as she held up both hands to protect her, Mimi didn't notice as a loud pitched sound filled the air, nor the fact that her crest began to glow brightly as well.

Palmon however did notice as her desperate run towards Mimi was interrupted boy a bight light, Her body feeling more energized then ever. "Palmon, digivolves too Togemon, Togemon digivolves too Lillymon!" Her small plant body shifting into the more human like Lillymon form so rapidly she barely even managed to shift into her larger Togemon body.

Still, even with her changed body, she would make it to Mimi in time. Which meant that she had to try something slightly different. "Flower Cannon!" Forming her main weapon as she flew forward, she focused as much power as she could into it, letting lose the U shaped projectile as she Flew closer. "Flower Cannon!"

Twisting his attention away from the screaming girl below him, Karatenmon barely managed to take any counter measures as the brightly glowing attack hit him, the only thing saving him from a nasty wound being the one sword he did get up into a protective position.

Still, the attack served to push him away form Mimi as he did some fancy aerial maneuvers to put distance between himself and Lillymon as she came in to protect Mimi. "So, you do have a way of defending yourself girly, still, it won't last long."

Holding out both Swords in a challenging manner, he growled as the large body of Michael's digimon came up over the hill behind him. "Stand back, she's mine!" Flying forward while spitting out the words, he ignored the curious look from his partner, and the furious one from Michael and his digimon. "Take this flower child, Ballistic Feathers!"

Ducking expertly while pulling Mimi to safety, Lillymon stuck out her tongue as she found Karatenmon glaring at her for actually managing to avoid his attacks. "Some digimon you are, I've seen Numemons with better aim." Her insult making even Mimi bleach as she thought back at the few times she had been forced to deal with Numemons.

Practically glowing with rage, Karatenmon calmly crossed his swords as he focused his anger, turning it all onto the small digimon. "For that comment, I will not grant you a quick death." Lifting his eyes to focus completely on her, he let out a small hiss. "Now, suffer!"

Gulping as she had to move faster this time around, Lillymon watched as Mimi had the foresight to move away from the battle ground, then she had to turn all her attention on the half bird half man like digimon as he slid into a complex series of sword moves, each one coming closer to hitting her. "Mimi, Call the others, I think I need help some help against this guy after all!"

"Then look no further!" Even as the words reached her, Lillymon had moved back to get some breathing space, her eyes quickly spotting the green, insect like humanoid digimon as he crashed feet first into Karatenmon's back.

Smirking as she spun around to lend her own power to the fight, she grinned as she reformed her main weapon. "Flower Cannon!" The U shape green glowing projectile hitting home as the birdman like digimon smashed beak first into one of the large stones. "Ha, take that you loser!"

Turning to face the digimon who had helped her, she barely had time to smile before he tackled her, dragging her down just in time to avoid a massive red laser beam ripping through the space they had occupied. "Uh, thanks for the help Stingmon, think you can help with him as well?" Her words spoken out quickly as they split apart to avoid the second attack.

Facing the approaching mechanical digimon as it roared at him, Stingmon briefly wondered if he could even leave a dent in the metallic parts of him, let alone hope to scratch the tough hide. "Um, I think I'll need the help of someone bigger, and stronger."

Standing calmly on the hill, Michael watched as his partner tore off down to join the fight, his eyes barely moving as he took in the scared expressions of the two digi destined digimons as they were forced to flee from the massive power of his new friend. "Metal-Tyrannomon, finish them off quickly, I want to dangle that brat's broken body before Yagami when he finally shows up,"

Roaring out in confirmation, the large black colored dinosaur twisted his head to focus on Stingmon as the insect man like digimon flew upwards to avoid him. "Giga Destroyer II!" The attack firing off as Metal-Tyrannomon leaned back to get a better aim.

On the ground, Karatenmon finished peeling himself of the side of the stone and turned to face the battle, his whole face twisted by rage as he focused on Lillymon. "Okay you little sapling, time for you to be cut down to size." Lifting up his swords for a long-range attack, he suddenly froze as something gray filled his field of vision to the left, the whole thing followed up with a massive amount of pain as an iron-clad hand smacked him right in the beak. "Who the bloody hell!"

Smirking as he stepped out from behind his partner, Tai grinned as he watched birdman like digimon focus on him. "Hiya, this is my partner, Knightmon, that's Stingmon up there, and we're here to crash this little party." Smirking as he turned to face Michael on the hill, Tai nodded as he saw that the blond haired boy had noticed him. "Now if you'll excuse us, I think our appointed dance partner has noticed us!"

Spitting out some slime from his mouth, Karatenmon lifted up one sword as he focused his full attention on Knightmon. "Oh yeah, well tell him to get back in line, cause I got first dips on tearing this trashcan a new..." Letting out a scream as he was tackled again, Karatenmon elbowed his attacker and grunted as he watched Stingmon fly off from the rather painful hit right in the face. "Right ya buggers, I don't care who's next, but whoever it is, is dead!"

Ignoring the ranting birdman digimon, Knightmon stood tall as he focused on the looming Metal-Tyrannomon, the large cybernetic digimon staring right back at him. "Tai, this one's for you." Speaking in his strange dual voice, the armored digimon began running forward, each step sounding like a metal hammer striking pure granite. "The Duel!"

Roaring back and slamming up a hidden compartment on his body, Metal-Tyrannomon's systems locked onto the smaller digimon moving towards him. "Giga Destroyer II!"

Halting in his tracks, Knightmon cursed rather loudly as a powerful beam of raw destructive force tore towards him, part of the landscape getting torn up in the process. And even knowing that it wouldn't do much more then protect him from the worst of it, he held out his great shield.

Screaming as the shield literally blew up from the attack, Knightmon grunted as he was lifted up and tossed backwards, his feet impacted the ground as he did an impressive mid air spin to prevent a crash landing on his back. "This guy, he's so much more powerful then he should be in this place."

"Well, aren't you confused." Came the cold, spiteful response form Michael as he looked down at Tai and Knightmon, a sick grin filling his face. "Thought you loser were the only ones who could draw power from the destiny stones?" Holding out his digivice, he laughed as a sickening purple green glow formed around it. "But unlike you, I draw on the very powers of darkness."

Roaring as he glowed purple green as well, Metal-Tyrannomon refocused on Knightmon, the blue colored sphere humming as light began to pull into. "Nuclear Laser!" Only to get shot out as a powerful red colored last blast, this attack hitting home as Knightmon held up his sword as a defense.

Letting out another scream as his hand felt like they had been stepped on, and not shot with a very painful ray of light, but even more troubling were the fact that he in his pain had tossed his sword back over his head.

Turning, Knightmon cursed as he spotted his sword, stuck blade first in the ground several meters away. "Damn it, Hey, you two up there, we need help now."

Twisting to avoid a sword strike aimed at gutting her, Lillymon back away while keeping an eye on Stingmon who were panting from his place while cradling his arm, a deep cut letting out some greenish fluid. "Flower Cannon!" Letting lose with the blast, she cursed as the evil digimon simply responded by diving under it. "Damn it, he won't stay still, Stingmon try and... Ah!"

Nimbly backing away as Karatenmon's two swords glinting with the light of the sun, she found herself barely avoiding each blade. "Mimi, anyone, do something!"

Looking back as the ground shook, Knightmon didn't get a chance to curse as several tons of metal and flesh impacted him right on, the strike leaving him flying completely out of control up to the point were a lighter, but still painful, mass hit from behind.

Staring in horror as his partner tried to get up, Tai nearly bit himself in the lip as Metal-Tyrannomon responded by opening his hidden compartment again, power glowing from inside of it. "Knightmon!" Yelling out the name, Tai didn't seemed to really think as he found himself moving, taking up position in front of his partner. "Come on, get up again, Knightmon, you have to protect the others."

Looking over his shoulder as Saw Michael signal for Metal-Tyrannomon to wait with his attack, Tai gave his best grin. "You know it just as I do, we can't win." Looking back towards the looming evil digimon, Tai gave his best smile. "It's me he wants, not you, Blackgatomon, Agumon. So just help Mimi and Ken to escape, the others will."

"No." Standing up, armor rattling as it were forced to move despite its damage, Knightmon glared right into the dinosaur like digimons red eyes. "I won't give up, I will defeat him." Reaching out and pulling Tai close, the dual voice let out a faint hit of sadness. "Thank you for trying to protect us Tai, but it's our job to do that, you get Mimi and Ken to safety while we put this jerk on the list of extinct digimon."

Reaching down and pulling out his sword, the large knight like digimon saluted Metal-Tyrannomon in as mocking a manner a she could. "Tai, when we charge him, get away from here."

"No." Responding this time, Tai gave his best smirk at his fused partner digimons. "If you two want to stay and fight, then so will I, I believe in you, and I know you will this fight." Grabbing both digivices from his belt, he grinned up at them as he moved closer. "Together we can take down anyone."

Nodding, but still showing sign of wanting to leave, Knightmon returned his attention towards Metal-Tyrannomon, his sword glinting as he moved into attack position. "Our final strike them, we hit him with everything we have." Glowing as he spoke, Knightmon glared straight across the distance. "So, bring it on!"

Smirking as he looked at them, Michael let out a harsh laugh as he lowered his arm. "Very well, I'll give you that, your little speech was touching, but it won't help you, you demise will be all the sweeter knowing you did you very best instead of running off."

Breathing out as Metal-Tyrannomon let out a war cry, Tai simply grinned back at the insane blond haired boy. "Really, and what makes you think you'll win." Narrowing his eyes as he spat out the last word, Tai held out digivice as he gave a small nod. "NOW!"

Letting out a battle cry, Knightmon took a step forward, only to stop as a bight light explode from behind him, air swirling around as his battle cry was answered by another one.

Moving his attention back towards the destiny stone, Tai stared in shock as the outline of a huge, really huge tiger like digimon formed, a finely decorated blue mask on its head, from which four eyes stared down at him and Knightmon, and around its center, twelve glowing spheres hovered. "Child, your courage, it has reached me here in the depths my prison, your voice of determination have awoken me, and for that, I shall help, accept my power, ad use it to bring balance and order back into the digital world."

Echoing around the field, the tiger digimons voice caused all fighting to stop and stare, as the mouth of the digimon opened up. Golden power flowing forth from it, almost every drop of it swirling down into Knightmon, the dented and broken armor reforming as his shield were recalled onto his arm.

The remaining part of the golden power flowed into Tai digivices, both of them letting out a high-pitched screech as their screens flashed.

"Now go, defeat this enemy, and when the time has come, call on me and the other soverns, so that we may finally rebuild this world." Fading away as he finished talking, the tiger digimon raised his head in respect as he opened his mouth to let out another battle cry.

Smirking as he held up his sword, Knightmon could literally feel himself glowing with power; the urge to take on every single enemy Babel had at once flowing through him. "Tai, let's do it."

At his side, Tai nodded as he turned back to face him. His hands lifting up each digivice. "Knightmon, Digivolve!" As he spoke the words, light shot out from each digivice, twirling around him once, before moving off to flow into Knightmon's body, which almost seemed to explode as a sphere of light formed around him.

Inside the sphere, Knightmon felt as if his body were burning up, each minute cell of it pounding with more power then it had ever had before. "Knightmon mega digivolves too." His armor flying off him, only his gantlets remained and along with his shin guards. His humanoid body suddenly gaining another meter in high and a distinct reptile look, were followed by several more muscles on legs, stomach and arms as each gauntlet twisted and extended in length while three sharp claws shot out from each of them.

His shield changing shape, the metal splitting right down the middle and gaining the mark of courage written on its surface, completed the whole thing. Around his chest, metallic form fitting armor formed, along with a metallic loincloth to finish it all off. "Wargreymon!"

* * *

Spitting out the tea he had been sipping, Babel let out a roar of anger as he glared at the screen before him. Once again something had gone wrong, once again things were out of his control. "Skullsatamon!" Screaming out the name while glaring at the screen, the mad man tossed away the rest of his tea.

From behind him, the darkness seemed to split apart as the undead digimon appeared in the room, one bony hand clutching onto his staff while observing the screen before him. "A mega level, digimon?" Giving off a hint of his surprise as he saw sight before him, Skullsatamon allowed it to sink in before regard in his alley from the corners of his eyes. "How did this happen? None of them should be able to reach the mega level?"

Spitting out a crude, low spoken curse, Babel regarded the screen again, one hand gripping tightly onto the armrest of his throne. "The blasted sovern, Baihumon, he gave part of his powers to Yagami's little pet fusion." Dragging a finger across his chin as he leaned back in the chair, Babel observed the screen before him. "I hate this, I hate them, I'm so close to gaining my victory, and still they defy me."

Moving his eyes across the screen, Babel allowed a thin smile to cross his face. "That boy there, that's." Standing up, he let out a low chuckle as he turned to regard Skullsatamon, the smirk on his face telling everyone that he had come up with a new brilliant plan. "Go, get him, bring him here, Skullsatamon, bring Ken to me, so that he can help me gain the rest of the digieggs."

Settling down as his partner bowed to him, Babel watched the fight unfold again with renewed interest, all emotions and concern for his new human servants forgotten. "Shame about them really, but, to think that my little brother is out in the open, and so exposed." Chuckling as he stood up, the mad man turned to leave the room. "It's time for a little family reunion Kenny boy, and no matter what you might say about it, you just got yourself a vital part in my plot."

Laughing as he left the room, he cast a simple glance over at the shadows, his eye easily picking out the outline of the sleeping form hovering there. "And you Gennai, you will stand at the front line of the final battle, crushing those who would stand against me."

* * *

TBC: Bortherly Reunion.

AN: Sorry about the time it took, I was distracted by Y's: The Ark of Napisthim, and a minor round of writers block. But I have to say; cutting down on the stories I try to write on at a time has really helped. Look out for the upcoming return of Myotismon part, and the second battle with Blackgreymon.

After which the final arc of this story will begin.

Twilight.

Once this story is complete, work will resume on a "Lone Digi destined." And to those who cares, some parts of it will be changed as I have finally admitted to even myself that I have worked myself into a too deep corner with that story. And nothing short of a massive Dues Ex Machina will allow me to save it.


	24. Part XXIV

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Summery: AU, very AU and dark, with mentioning of torture, violence and blood drinking.

Things have never looked grimmer, as digi destined goes up against digi destined. Have Michael really lost it and willingly joined the side of Darkness, and what is Babel's true motive for seeking the destruction of everything. And what of the mysterious virus that everyone fears, what is it secret, and how is it connected to events in the past.

Two Destiny Stones have been corrupted, and facing our heroes, the returned Catherine and Michael were winning, when a miracle happened and Knigthmon digivolved into Wargreymon, but will one mega be enough to end the nightmare.

* * *

Spawn of the vampire  
Tragedy of a tainted Family.

* * *

Silence filled the battleground as Wargreymon tilted his head to face Metal-Tyrannomon. His digivolution having drawn all attention towards him, the large dinosaur like man grunted as he moved into a fighting stance. "Metal-Tyrannomon, your just another Imitamon created by that nutcase." Claws reflecting the light as he took a step forward, Wargreymon focused all of his attention on his opponent. "Your evil, is just a product of Babel madness, and for that reason, we will show you no mercy." 

Roaring in defiance, Metal-Tyrannomon stomped forward, power flowing into his main weapon as he began to barrel down towards his now larger opponent. "Giga Destroyer II!"

"Courage Shield!" Reacting with lighting fast speeds, Wargreymon moved into a defense position as he tore the two halves of his shield around to block the attack. The large dinosaur like digimon barely uttering out a grunt as fire and smoke danced around him when the attack hit.

Even before the fire had fully died down, Wargreymon began moving forward. "Our Turn!" Slipping his shield halves back onto his back while he spoke, Wargreymon reared back his right arm as he jumped off the ground as he reached Metal-Tyrannomon's front. "Mega Claw!"

Screaming out in pain as the attack hit him, Metal-Tyrannomon stumbled backwards as metal parts and digimon blood flew through the air, the attack having cut though his lower jaw and parts of the upper one.

Watching this, Michael screamed out in pure rage, his eyes coming closer to glowing as he focused all of his hatred on this new version of Yagami's digimons. "Get up, you hear me." Spitting out the words as his partner crashed down near him. The blond haired boy pulled out his new digivice; it's surface gleaming with the same light flowing through his eyes. "Get up now!"

Screaming out the last word, Michael ignored the painfully loud sound flowing out of his digivices as streams of darkness began to flow into it. "It's not over, not by a long shot, you hear me Yagami!" Yelling out the name with all of his hatred, the air exploding with the coldness of a corrupted light, darkness streaming through it as a fully insane sounding laugh broke out from him. "Metal-Tyrannomon!"

Roaring out in response, as he seemed to freeze in place, Metal-Tyrannomon's body began to shake as darkness and cold light streams quickly enveloped it. "Metal-Tyrannomon digivolves too, Wargreymon!" As the darkness shattered, a smaller, gray skinned humanoid dinosaur like digimon took the place of the huge cyborg dinosaur digimon. The gauntlets it wore gleaming in the light, as it's red glowing eyes focused on Tai's Wargreymon.

Smirking as he held out his digivice at Tai, Michael grinned as he allowed a quick glance to flow over his new digimon, taking a strange delight in the fact that they now had the same partner. "Heh, well, well." Moving his eyes back to Tai, he let out a low chuckle. "It seems we're even now."

Simply gazing back at him, Tai barely showed any interest in the newly digivolve digimon. "Wrong Michael, unlike you, I have my freedom, and I can see what Babel really are."

Grunting at first, Michael lowered his digivice. "You really are a fool, aren't you? Babel's a visionary, he will bring order to the digital world, by creating a entirely new one free of darkness, and monsters like you Yagami." Watching as shocked expressions filled their faces; he spread out his arms in a show of greatness. "Of course, he will have to destroy the old Digital World first. After all, there can be no new creation, without destroying the old."

"You're mad." The whispered out words drew away Michael attention and right towards the one who had spoken, the very person he hadn't really expected to do so, had still somehow gotten over to stand next to Tai while they had talked.

And so, for the second time since he had joined Babel for revenge against Tai, Michael faced Mimi. But this time, it would not be a simple ploy to turn her into a hostage, no; it would be for the last time. "Traitor."

Letting the word fill the air, he gazed at her horrified expression, the way she flinched back as if he had struck her in the face. "You call me mad, yet you side with the one who hurt us, tried to kill us. And for no other reason then to inflict pain on us."

Both hands shaking with rage as he spoke, Michael gazed at her with as much hatred, as he had at Tai. "I should have seen it coming, you really only go for the ones with power and wealth don't you?" Eyes narrowing as he lifted up one hand, he allowed a cold, non-caring smile to fill his face. "But no more, I'll remove the lot of you from my life, none of you will ever hurt me again."

"Wargreymon!" Ripping down his free arm as he spat out the name, Michael snapped his eyes wide open. "Destroy them all!"

Snapping into action, the gray toned Wargreymon glowed pale blue as dark power flare up around his body, his eyes opening up completely as a war cry tore itself out of his mouth.

And facing them, Tai and Wargreymon both let out a breath of air as the battle kicked into the highest gear.

* * *

In the air, Karatenmon, Lillymon and Stingmon watched the exchanged below, all thoughts of their own battle forgotten as they gave all their attention on the exchange between the humans, and opening of the battle between the two mega digimons. 

And while it was something that demanded the attention of everyone, it wouldn't last as Stingmon was snapped out of it by his own partner's voice. "Stingmon? He's open for an attack." The simple logic in the sentence fueling his next moved as a massive fist flew out and punched Karatenmon before both of them were even really a where of what was going on.

Shaking out his stunned observation of the others, Karatenmon snarled as pain flashed through the side of his beak. The stupid champion had actually managed to hurt him. "You!" Pulling out both swords, he lashed out and began a wicked dance, each blade leading them both through the dance of death, him striking out, and the other avoiding.

Regaining her bearings as the fight started up again, Lillymon turned around as her cannon formed, the mouthpiece getting a direct aim as Karatenmon as he moved away from her. "Flower Cannon!"

Screaming in shock as the attacking hit his back and pushed him forward, Karatenmon felt his hands go numb and drop his swords as he was pummeled by repeated kicks to his chest. Stingmon having taken full advantage of the opening he had left upon the surprise attack.

Rolling backwards with the last attack, Karatenmon allowed a drop of spit and blood to flow from his beak as he realigned in midair, both wings spread out to their fullest. "So, no more playing around then?" Spreading out both arms in a cold gesture, he grinned as he focused on them. "So be it, Ballistic feathers!"

Moving as fast as they could, Lillymon and Stingmon scattered to avoid the main barrage of feathers, staring as each of them cut through the ground below like a knife through butter. "That, that attack." Turning around, Stingmon found himself moving backwards as Karatenmon moved in closer.

Smirking as he came close enough, the Birdman like digimon pulled back one arm as power gathered into it, forming a small sphere. "Enlightenment!" The sphere hitting Stingmon with enough power to knock him several meters backwards. "To think, a group of losers like you two actually hurt me enough to take away my blades."

Spinning around, he grinned as he spotted Lillymon right behind him, power already flowering into his other hand. "That work again flower child, Enlightenment!" Smirking as Lillymon were blasted away, he turned to face Stingmon who had landed on the nearest rock pillar. "Ready for the end?"

Not answering as he held up both hands, Stingmon allowed his answer to come in the form of his insect stingers emerging from each wrist.

Spreading out his wings, Karatenmon smirked as he began to pull power into them, far more then he had had before, each feather slowly beginning to glow. "Let us finish this."

Recovering in her flight, Lillymon let out a small curse as she began to fly downwards again, her eyes narrowing in determination at the sight of Stingmon facing that birdman like digimon alone.

* * *

"Mega Claw!" 

"Terra Force!"

Ripping apart the landscape, both Wargreymons were doing their very best to tear their opponent to pieces, Babel's corrupted Wargreymon firing off a powerful negatively charge attack at close range, while Tai's Wargreymon continued to attempt to lay just one claw on his opponent.

Failing to hit either of them, they quickly jumped apart and stopped, one of them hovering in the air, while the other one found itself standing on the ground.

Snarling in anger, Tai's Wargreymon held up his gauntlet-covered hands, feeling the very powers of the earth flow into his fists as he began to pull them forward again. "Terra Force!" The orange colored sphere of destructive power hurtling downwards, carrying with it the strength to rip apart the very landscape.

Spreading out his arms, Michael's Wargreymon cast his gaze sky wise, each of his gauntlets claws glowing as he focused on the sphere moving towards him. "Great Tornado!" His power suddenly erupting outwards in a tornado of wings and energy, ripping apart the landscape as he took of at full power right into the Terra Force.

On the ground, Tai had to shield his face as a backlash of hot air hit him head on, his feet scraping backwards as he struggled to maintain balance. "Alright, that had to have taken him down, he went right into it." Staring upwards, he froze as he spotted both Wargreymons holding out a clawed gauntlet to the other ones face. "What the?"

From his position, Michael allowed a sick grin to form as he took in the sight. "Seems we're still evenly matched." The words from the blond haired boy crossing the distance easily, along with the maniac glint in his eyes. "However, I wonder if it will continue to be so." Smirking knowingly as he finished talking, he simply snapped his fingers.

Glaring at him, Mimi tensed up and focused on Tai. "Be careful, he's too calm right now."

The same words going through his head as she spoke them, the blond haired boy were simply to calm, just a few minutes ago he had been angry enough to tear apart a mountain with his bare hands, if it would have gained him the revenge he wanted and now. "He's got more digimons to help him."

As the words left his mouth, Tai found it confirmed as the shadowy forms of there Neodevimons rose up behind the hills, each of them letting out a blood chill screech. "Still not willing to fight it out fairly."

"As if you ever fought us fairly?" Clenching up one hand as he spoke, Michael gazed up at the two Wargreymon's. "I still remember your ambush, the army of Devidramons and enslaved Digimons charging us." Eyes turning hard as steel, he gazed down at Tai with pure hatred burning behind them. "So don't even think of lecturing me on fairness."

Backing off to gain distance, the two Wargreymons gazed at each other, hovering as they gazed at each other as power began to gather around their bodies.

Facing his opponent, as he pulled in power, Wargreymon allowed himself to take a quick glance around the area, seeing the battle raging between the others, and the newly appeared Neodevimons. Knowing that if he didn't want to face a bigger problem then the one they had now, this battle would have to end now. "One final attack, to determine who will win this?"

Not answering, the corrupted Wargreymon simply held up his hands, dark energies flowing into each of them as he let out a low growl of anger. Eyes glowing as he took in the battlefield as well, the deeper, darker parts of him roared out against the battle, wondering why he was following orders like that.

On the ground, Mimi gazed upwards as she grabbed her tag, her mind struggling to come up with away to help, her eyes shifting away to see Lillymon and Stingmon battling Karatenmon. "Tai, do you think." Stopping her sentence, she noticed the deadly cold determination in the messy haired boy's eyes. "You still want to fight, even under these odds?"

Her voice a whisper, she tried to make her heart slow down, to force away the feeling of fear as she gazed skyward again, facing the glowing digimons as they prepared for one final strike. "Please, win this, please." Her words no more then a whisper to assure herself, she blinked as a hand found its way into her own. "Tai?"

"He will win this, trust me." Gazing across the area at Michael, he showed none of the doubt he had felt before, knowing that no matter what. They couldn't lose. "Wargreymon will win this!"

Face twisting back into its rage filled one, Michael snapped out one hand as his eyes found Tai's straight across the distance between them. "Yagami! Die!"

"Terra Force!"

"Terra Force!"

Twin war cries filled the air as both Wargreymons fired off their attack, one a brilliantly glowing sphere of positively charge energy and the other negatively charged.

* * *

Having reached maximum charge, the birdman like digimon let out a shrill cry as he released it all on his opponent without any restraint. "Ballistic Feathers!" 

Letting lose the most powerful attack he had ever used, Karatenmon smirked as he saw the shocked expression on the annoying champion's face, the look he knew would turn into pure pain when his attack ripped though his pathetic body and reduced it to digital dust. What he hadn't counted on was the fact that someone else would dare to interfere in his fight.

"Astral Laser!"

Turning around as a pink blast of energy tore though his attack, causing it to detonate between himself and Stingmon, he cursed as another birdman like digimon moved onto the battlefield, this one more bizarre looking as he had also had the traits of a cat. "Who are you?"

"He's with us." The voice drawing his attention down to see a smirking messy haired boy standing next to the dark blue haired boy, a blue colored dragon man like digimon hovering next to Stingmon. "And if you think Silphymon is reason enough to worry, you haven't seen our best yet."

Turning to face Ken, Davis grinned as he held up his digivice. "We got your message Ken, so, you up to it Ken?"

Smirking back at Davis, Ken held up his own digivice and simply nodded in return. "Never been more ready before, Davis."

Smirking as well, Ex-Veemon felt the power flow into him, his body glowing along with Stingmon's as they drew closer together, their minds already linking up. "Ex-Veemon!"

Letting the power flow through him, Stingmon didn't even question it as he could pick up Ex-Veemon's thoughts anymore, some part of him already thinking in their fused manner. "Stingmon!"

"DNA digivolves too, Paildramon!" The huge dragon-insect man like fusion of a digimon towering up over Karatenmon, a smirk showing through the eye gap in his visor as he glanced down at his smaller opponent. "Silphymon, you deal with the Neodevimons. We'll handle the birdie."

Nodding in response, Silphymon took of flying as he fast as could, Lillymon following him after a second, her mind fully determined to help out where she was most needed at the moment.

Returning his attention towards Karatenmon, Paildramon let out a cold bark of laugher as he swung up both hips guns. "You ready for this?" His voice mocking in its clam, the merged eyes staring straight ahead at the evil digimon before them.

Holding up his hands, Karatenmon stared at him as a small glowed wrapped around his fingers and palm. "You think I'm scared of you now?" His own voice not weaving or hinting at any fear, Karatenmon closed his hands as each of his swords returned to him. "You're not scaring, you're nothing more then the next one to die!"

Moving forward as he finished speaking, Karatenmon swung each swords up in X-form in front of him. "Crow Swords!" The fully charge blast of blue colored energy shooting out to cross the distance between them.

"Desperado Blaster!" Countering the attack with his own, Paildramon simply stared as the bullets from his guns tore the attack to shreds, allowing only a weak part of it to reach him. "We have never had any intention of scaring you, only to end this fight."

Letting lose with a second barrage of bullets, the large fused digimon watched as Karatenmon let out a loud screech, his body shaking with each hit as it went flying backwards. "This battle will be finished now!"

Pushing the pain away, Karatenmon focused all of his power into his hands, each of his swords shattering as he began to growl. "Yes, it will. Enlightenment!"

Spinning forward several lashed of blue energy streamed past him, Paildramon held up his hands, twin stingers emerging from each gauntlet. "Sting Strike!" Each gauntlet covered hand striking as he came close enough to his opponent.

Screaming in utter pain as he fell back, Karatenmon's hands gave off one last shot of power, missing his target completely as his body broke apart into four evenly large parts, a shocked expression filling his face before it shattered apart into a cloud of digital data, each of the other body parts following after it a second later.

Turning around as the fight had ended, Paildramon focused upwards, his eyes spotting the two Wargreymons as the Terra Force attacks hit, each one canceling out the other one. "Such, power."

On the ground, Davis blinked as he first now spotted the two, mega digimons, his head snapping around to focus on Tai, Mimi and Michael standing a good deal away. "Ken, what's happening here, you told us you were in trouble, but you never mentioned anything about that."

Watching the fight as well before turning to face Davis, Ken's eyes snapped open as he managed to pick up the large figure stepping out from his hiding place. "Davis, look out!"

Even as he pushed the messy haired boy away, he felt the bony hand grab the back his shirt. "Davis, run, he mustn't get us both!"

Smirking as he aimed his staff downwards at Davis, Skullsatamon allowed a dark laugh to fill the air. "I don't want you both, I'm here for you Kenny boy, but Davis there, can die!" Even as he finished talking, power had already filled his staff, only to be wasted as it was knocked away by Paildramon, the undead digimon forced to move away to avoid the follow up attack. "Humph, I got what I wanted, for now the rest of you can live a little longer."

Ducking back as Skullsatamon tore up the ground, Paildramon cursed, as he found no trace of the undead digimon, or of Ken as the dirt finally settled down. "Davis, the others, we got to get them, we have to find Ken."

Looking upwards, the fused digimon and Human had to shield their eyes as a powerful light lit up the sky, a loud scream echoing around the area as the battle above was finally finished.

* * *

Twin war cries filled the air as both Wargreymons fired off their attack, one a brilliantly glowing sphere of positively charge energy and the other negatively charged and sickly glowing. 

Struggling against each other in midair, the two attacks finally began to discharge as neither one could win over the other, lashes of power shooting out to strike randomly around the battlefield.

On the ground, Michael spat out a curse as he regarded the failed attack, even when drawing on as much negative power as he could, he still couldn't overpower that bastard and his pet creature. To make matters worse, Karatenmon had fallen, and Skullsatamon had run away.

And those Neodevimons, they were barely keeping Silphymon and Lillymon busy. "Catherine, give me whatever power you have left, and I'll use it to make Wargreymon strong enough to crush them all." Spitting out the command while he turned to face her, he stopped as all he could see at first where two younger boys and a larger, rather ugly looking digimon facing him. "So, you two are also here, TK, Cody. Come to help the bastard and traitor as well?"

Smirking as he stepped back, he looked up at his Wargreymon, one hand lifting up into the air. "Well, the battle seems to be lost for now, so, I'll be off." Snapping his finger, he let out a small laugh as both TK and Cody began to step forward.

"Humph, think you'll get away like that?" Looking up as his Wargreymon came closer, he let out a bark of laughter and held out one hand, two of the Neodevimons turning their attention downward. "I believe you'll be facing a bigger problem then just stopping me."

Glancing over to see what had happened to Catherine, he narrowed his eyes as he spotted her out cold with Kari and Yolei standing guard. "Hmm, another failure." Reaching up a hand to grab a hold of Wargreymon's gauntlet, he smirked a final time at the two boys as they kept running forwards, their digimon fighting his Neodevimons. "Till next time boys."

"There won't be a next time."

Snapping his head up to see the smirking, skull and bony body of Skullsatamon, Michael stumbled backwards as the undead digimon hovered closer to him. "What do you mean, I am withdrawing for now, that is all there is to it. I'll crush them the next time."

Lifting up his staff, Ken held down under his left arm, Skullsatamon focused his attention on the gray colored Wargreymon who had stopped moving. "What I mean human, is that there is no longer any room for you in this plan." Lashing out with his staff, his eyes glowed brightly yellow as he aimed it upwards at the viral Wargreymon. "Nail Bone!"

Screaming in rage and hatred, Michael couldn't do much as a powerful, blue colored lighting bolt shut out, hitting the shocked Wargreymon right in the chest region, spreading out over the body before fading away. "There, that should make it easier for us. Neodevimons, we're leaving."

Roaring while stumbling backwards as bits and pieces of his armor fell off, the gray colored Wargreymon spun around and focused on Tai's Wargreymon as he came closer, red colored power flowing into his arms. "Terra"

Clapping both arms together, Tai's Wargreymon began to sin around, his body gaining speed as it came closer to the other Wargreymon. "Great Tornado!"

Taken off guard, and out of focus, Michael's Wargreymon let out a loud scream as the golden colored, wind attack struck him, bits of his armor flying off as he was pushed backwards, impacting the ground loudly before breaking apart as Tai's Wargreymon drilled right through his chest.

Laughing while flying way, Skullsatamon sent out another attack, forcing Lillymon and Silphymon to back off, freeing yet another two Neodevimons to aid him. "Digi Destined, come to Mount Infinity if you want your friend back, and bring your digi mentals with you, if you want him back alive that is."

Staring after him, the group of digi destined watched as both Skullsatamon and the Neodevimon began to increase their speed, slipping away into a cloudbank.

* * *

Laughing, Babel watched as his plan had worked, the destiny stone was lost, but he had gained something valuable this time around. "Check-mate digi destined, with your digi mentals I can at last begin phase two." Standing up, he watched as File Island came into view. 

And in the center of it, the towering structure of rock that was Mount Infinity rose up into the air. "Somewhere on that structure, the destiny stone of Azulongmon resides. And once I have corrupted that, the imbalance will finally be enough to bring about my desire, total destruction of the digital world."

"Azulongmon, Baihumon, Xuanwumon, Zhuqiaomon and Gennai." Clenching up both hands, he watched each screen around him and their images of digimons fighting in the corrupted areas, or going about a peaceful day in the untouched areas. "This world means so much to you, yet you never lifted a finger to protect yourself, now, your chosen weapons shall strike at your most treasured thing, your home."

Tracing one finger across his throne, he smirked as the main screen. "Michael was a fool, I have no interest in building a world in my image, I want it corrupted, covered in darkness. Everything that the soverns and Gennai fought against, only when that happens will I be happy."

Laughing as he watched Mount Infinity grow larger, Babel settled back down in his throne. Vengeance was finally within his grasp. But more importantly, he had his brother in his grasp. "Poor little Ken, so trouble by your past." Letting his fangs poke out, Babel leaned forward and gazed intently down at the digi mentals he already had. "Maybe you will be a better help to me then anyone else, after all, if I can't trust my own family who can I trust."

* * *

Staring in the direction that Skullsatamon had left in, Davis clenched up his fists and turned sharply around to face Paildramon. "Come on Paildramon, we can't let him get away, he got Ken." Snapping out a finger to point in the direction, he grinned as Paildramon nodded before picking him up. "Come on guys, hurry up." 

Staring at him, Kari turned her head to focus on Tai and Mimi, both of whom had walked over to join them. "Tai, are you okay?" One eye narrowed as she watched him walk closer. "Geez, you really scared me, but." Gazing form him towards Wargreymon, she let out a small grin. "I see you found a way to handle yourself in this case."

"Yeah." Came the hesitant reply from Tai as he slowly turned to face Mimi before looking back at Kari again. "Um, Kari, we're going to stay here, and make sure Michael and Catherine don't run off again."

Nodding in agreement, Mimi stared over at the blond haired boy fuming at them, and further ahead towards Catherine simply gazing down at them. "We'll get them to Betamon and Floramon for help, you go after Skullsatamon."

Smiling as she began to turn away, Kari stopped and locked her eyes on Tai. "Listen, when you two have done that, come help us will you, Skullsatamon is the strongest of Babel's servants, we'll properly need help with him."

"I will be there." Tai spat out as his eyes turned cold, one hand shaking with anger. "Cause Babel will also be there, I'm sure of it."

Next to him, Mimi backed off a bit, her eyes troubled as she gazed at the messy haired boy. "Do you think it is wise? Your anger, it might, get you back under his control."

Slumping at the comment, Tai lowered his head, hiding the pain flashing through him at the memories, or rather lack of memories he had suffered because of Babel. "He took so much from me, I was alive when he found me, uncorrupted. He turned me in my moment of weakness, if he hadn't been there, none of this might have happened."

"It would have." Came Davis voice as he gazed down at him, his own eyes showing a long hidden pain. "He got to my sister too, and she, she accepted the pact for power, you accepted it for survival." Moving his eyes towards the horizon, the younger, messy haired boy sighed. "If it hadn't been you, it would have been her who'd committed those actions, or even someone else."

Smiling a bit sadly towards the sky, Davis settled back in Paildramon's arms. "I've looked for her for along time now, even while fighting the Digimon Emperor I looked for her. Even if she sold her soul willingly, I still want to try and save her." Looking down at Tai, he grinned at him. "You know more about Babel then we do, so, I wouldn't mind if you were there to help us."

Still looking a bit hesitant, Mimi let out a deep breath as she saw the look of determination pass between the two messy haired boys. "Fine, but don't think you'll go alone." Snapping out one arm and pressing her finger against Tai's chest, she grinned at him. "I'm coming too, even if it is just to keep you in line."

However nice it were, the sweet, fluffy moment between the two were roughly broken by a cold bark of laughter. "It doesn't matter what you fools do." Seeing the confused expression, and lightly annoyed glared focused on him, he continue to let out his sickening laughter. "At this very moment, Babel will be going for Azulongmon's destiny stone."

Smirking in that "I am superior even in defeat" manner he had used twice before, the blond haired boy brushed off some dirt form his shirt lazily. The blue eyes focused entirely on the messy haired boy before him. "We still win Yagami, even if it is not me who'll destroy you and the traitor, you will all die anyway."

Doing his best, Tai struggled to prevent his fist from doing what he deep down wanted to. "Just shut up, Blondie." Eyes flashing as he looked up at Wargreymon, he made a quick motion for him to grab the American. "Whatever Babel is doing, I'll be there to ruin it for him."

Staring at him, Kari sighed as he gazed out over the group. "Tai, we can't leave them here, and we can't take them with us, you hear me?"

Turning his attention towards Kari, Tai just grinned as he began to lift up both hands. "Sure we can Kari, thanks to Blondie's comment here, those two just got a special place on Wargreymon."

Frowning at the comment, Michael didn't have time to utter out one word before he felt the massive hand grab him, but he did learn how it felt to be mashed up against the side of the large digimon in a less then careful way. "There, now we just need to bring Catherine along, and have Betamon and Floramon meet us."

"Tai!" The word snapped out behind him had the messy haired boy slump as he turned to face his sister. "Get them over to Floramon first, then you can follow us."

The reply to her command came in the form of low spoken words that the young girl was fairly sure she was happy not to hear clearly.

* * *

His remaining battalion of Neodevimons had secured the mountain at last, the only digimons on having long since run, the Pathetic creatures going as far as to attack each other just to run away from them. Still, that Ogremon who had been in charge of the defense had given all he had had, and were even now leading the retreat of the surviving digimons warriors in a skillful manner. 

Letting a simple smirk fill his face, he ran one finger over his control panel. "See how they run, thinking I want to take over the whole mountain, if not the island." Focusing his eyes on the real goal, he stood up, one hand reaching out and signaling for the Bakemons to pay attention. "Take the fortress down, land it on the mountain side for now. I have business inside the Temple."

Standing up, he cracked his knuckles and cast a simple look back over his shoulder. "Skullsatamon, you better have succeed with your mission, or you'll find yourself return to the Dark Area." Stomping out of the room, he failed to notice the ghostly presence observing him from the shadows, purple eyes narrowed in mock laughter.

* * *

The inside of the temple was lavish, yet plain. Marble blocks stacked on top of each other with simple writing and inscriptions of the glory of Baihumon and the other Sovern digimons. A wide spread marble floor with a simple elevated tribune. "How familiar this is to me, even after all this time. And the memories connected to it." 

Stepping up on the tribune, he could almost see in his mind where each of them had been. Gennai as the judge and, and his order as the guard keeping him in check, the back of the tribune housing the four representatives of the soverns, those who would pass down judgment from their masters. "Bastards."

They couldn't understand. They took his life from him, tried to fuse him with an imposter, making him the one to be absorbed into the other and forgotten.

They had deserved everything he had done to get back at them, executing those who had simply condemned him. The destruction of the digital world would be the same as what they had done to him. Destroyed his life, taken everything he cared about away from him.

Casting a sick glare at the simple throne in the center that had served as Devimon's place of power, he grunted and settled down in it. "Plant it there, in the center." His voice reaching the Neodevimons carrying the pedestal holding the digimental he had already secured. "Soon, I will unleash my vengeance, my most precious creation on this world."

Laughing at the thought what the full assault of his virus would do once it was freed was enough to make him feel almost like a kid again. "Revenge, how sweet it taste, and once I have all the parts I need, I will savor it in the fullest."

Looking up as he finished talking, he wiped away all traces of his glee, his eyes quickly making out the bony body of Skullsatamon entering in through the massive doorway. "You're back, and the mission were a success?" The last part was spoken as he noticed the out cold boy held roughly by the undead digimon. "What of Michael and Catherine, did they go down fighting?"

Smirking as well a she could with a skull like facing, the undead digimon planted his human cargo on the floor. "They fought alright, but failed, even Michael who managed to have his digimon go beyond the ultimate level." Smiling on the inside as he finished his small rant, he slowly began to turn around. "If you will excuse me, I have somewhere to be."

Keeping his attention on Ken, Babel grunted at the words, barely showing any interest. "Just make sure you're back here for the unsealing, you don't want to miss it when I unleash the virus."

Eyes blazing a bit at the words, Skullsatamon looked back over his shoulder. "You just make sure you keep your side of the barging." Tightening his hold on his staff, he allowed his power to show in a small, glowing aura of evil light. "The barrier between the worlds must be weakened, and Lord Deamon freed before you start any of your destruction."

Responding by waving a hand in a dismissive way, Babel refocused on Ken again, his attention having faltered a bit at the comment from Skullsatamon. "My little brother, who would have ever thought that our family would be so blessed, or cursed, to end up as masters of darkness."

Smiling widely as the eyelids of his brother began to flutter at his touch, he stepped back. "Wake up little brother, wake up, and meet your one, true brother." Laughing silently at the comment, he dropped down on the tribune; he chuckled lightly as he ran one shaky hand through his hair. "Ken, Ken, you did well little brother, you had everything, the power to change this world as you saw fit."

Leaning backwards while closing his eyes, he let out a soft chuckle. "It was just, such a shame that you gave it up my little digimon emperor."

"No, what I was back then was a mistake."

Sitting up straight as the words echoed through the room, Babel focused on Ken as he was pushing himself up, head and eyes focused on the floor. "You're awake already?"

Standing up, Ken snapped his head up, anger flowing through him as he mind kept running over the simple sentence it had picked up from this monster before him as he awoke. "Whatever it is that you have planned for me, you can just forget it, for there is no way."

Words trailing off as he got a good look at the one before him, Ken felt like Paildramon had punched him in the gut. Time had passed since he had last seen him, and the face before was older, much older, and lined with traces of anger and hatred. But it was him, his brother. "Osamu?"

Smirking as he stood up calmly, Babel focused on the younger boy before him. "Hello Ken, it's been a while hasn't it."

Moving backwards, Ken didn't make it far before feeling something cold against his back, a quick glance showing him the device holding the digi mental of Hope, Knowledge and Reliability. "Wha, Osamu, how, how can you be here." His voice nearly faltering several times from the shock of seeing a face he hadn't expected to ever see again. "You died! I saw it, you, died. The car, you, Osamu."

Losing a bit of his smirk at the comment of him dying, Babel grunted and walked closer, one hand twitching as it curled up and uncurled. "That wasn't me." Each word spat out with a thick layer of hate to it, Babel didn't stop until moving until he was standing right before Ken, towering up over him. "And it's not Osamu anymore, it's Babel."

Chuckling lightly as he stepped back, giving the young boy some breathing space, he gazed down at the digi mentals. "The Osamu you saw die, was nothing more then a pathetic clone, something Gennai and the Soverns created to avoid admitting they had nearly killed me with their so called omnipotent plan."

"But now." Spreading out his arm in a victory pose, Babel let out a cold laugh as he watched the light playing of the surface of the digi mentals. "Now, I will have revenge, Gennai and the Soverns will be made to pay." Eyes twinkling with a hint of his true madness, he watched a shadow within the shadows of the temple. "In fact, Gennai has already paid for his crime against me, and when I have all the digi mentals, and the door to the prison area opens up, my virus will destroy everything they hold dear."

Returning his attention to his brother, Babel held out one hand towards him. "They must pay, you can understand that right?" Smiling as sincerely as he could, he reached down towards Ken, the outstretched hand beckoning him to accept the offer that was coming. "Ken, you must understand how that feels, you have been wronged too, been made to suffer because of this wretched world and all those who live in it. Join me, and you can get revenge as well, we'll wipe away the stain of the digital world forever and make sure none ever suffers again because of its existence."

Laughing as he held up his other hand in show of triumph. "We can have our revenge at last!"

Pushing himself up, Ken adverted his eyes as he listen to the rant, his own hand clenching up. "You're right, you're not my brother. You can't be Osamu." Speaking softly, he glared as his hand reached down for his D-terminal, hoping to get it out and send a warning before this, mockery of his brother did anything else. "Osamu wasn't like this, he would never seek to destroy a world, nor would he want to commit genocide."

Trembling as his hand curled up, Babel lashed out before he could even think about it, the sound of flesh hitting flesh filling the air as Ken fell backwards. "I am you Brother! Just not the weak little loser you knew, I am Babel now, the greatest digi destined to ever live, and the one who was betrayed by everyone. The pen ultimate version of your big brother!"

Eyes narrowing into slits, he nearly spat as he gazed down at his little brother. "Even by my own flesh and blood I was betrayed." Voice cold with hatred, he spun around, one hand clenched up hard enough to draw blood. "I was banished back to earth, and even if I had aged while in the digital world, I thought they would recognize me, but they didn't, they chased me away, simple because they favored a clone over me!"

Shrinking back as Babel began ranting again, Ken felt a cold dread growing with in him, whoever this was, he looked like his brother, although older, but he was nothing like him. This one was insane, mad with hatred and pent up anger. He was, what he had almost become.

Spinning around, Babel's eyes shone with madness as he grinned, his own, home built, digivice clutched feverishly in his right hand. "Well, if you refuse to be my brother Ken, then I will just to use you as a bargain chip."

Snapping his hand, the room filled with up Bakemons, each one floating in through the doorway, wall, ceiling or even the floor. "Size him, and prepare this room for the opening of the gate." Laughing as he lifted his eyes up towards the ceiling of the place. "Soon, my greatest creation will be free once more, soon, my virus will destroy everything."

* * *

Letting out a loud curse as he hit the ground, Michael glared upwards as Tai gazed down at him from his place on Wargeymon's back. "Here we are at last, the place were we part ways for good." Eyes narrowed as he slid down to the ground, the messy haired boy gazed over at Catherine, the blond haired girl showing a lot more dignity then the boy had as she landed on her feet. "Okay, now that we're here, where are Betamon and Floramon." 

Sighing as she landed on the ground as well, Mimi shook her head and gazed out over the lake before them. "Well, I would have to say that they most likely are down in Gennai's house." Her comment aimed at Tai while she gazed at Michael standing up again. "Hey, Michael, you know, I'm."

"Spare me your excuses." The words snapped out, Michael glanced over at Tai with pure venom in his glance. "No matter what you say, there is no way I'm going to accept any kind of apology from a traitor, nor will I end my vendetta against him."

Returning the venom filled look with one just as poison filled, Tai crossed his arms as he walked over to glance down into the waters. "Look, Michael, I can't change the past, but trust me on this one, I regret what I did to you, what I did to everyone." Voice nearly cracking over as he talked, he looked up with a snap. "But that attitude of your is making it hard for me to even think of offering you an apology."

Letting out a small bark of laughter, Michael gazed at Tai sharply for a second before spitting on the ground before the messy haired boy. "That is what I think of your apology, and don't even think I have even begun shown just what I think of you."

Rising up one fist as anger coursed through him, Tai had to suppress the urge to punch him, even if it was the most tempting thing to do at the moment. "Where are they? Shouldn't they have been here by now?"

As he finished talking, Tai crossed his arms as he watched Wargreymon hovering in the air above them, the massive dino man like digimon gazing into the digital horizon. "You see anything yet?"

Mimi, sighing at the impatient tone of voice, lowered her arm as she felt someone touch her shoulder gently. "Huh, what is it?" Her eyes widening a bit as she saw Catherine right behind her. "Is there, something wrong?"

Shaking her head lightly, Catherine moved her face away from Mimi, to focus on Tai as the messy haired boy turned to regard them. "What, is he doing here?" Her voice cracking at the beginning, she took a deep breath and removed her hand from Mimi's shoulder. "Where is this place anyway, last thing I remember clearly, was escaping from the temple."

Not answering at first, the pink loving girl reached out a hand to touch her friend's forehead. "You don't remember anything? Not even about Karatenmon? Or the destiny stone of Baihumon?"

Frowning at the questions, she flinched when she noticed the glaring boy sitting on the ground. "Hey, isn't he the one who"

"Losing faith eh." Pushing himself up, Michael crossed his arms and smirked as coldly a she could. "I got to hand it to you Yagami, you have a way of getting all the girls to follow you, don't you." Pulling out the digivice he had been issued by Babel, he tossed it away. "So what's next anyway? Another round of torture, or will you just kill me?"

Clenching up both his hands, Tai fumed as he turned away, the hateful words from the blond haired boy cutting deep into him, hurting him where he hadn't expected to be hurt. "Just shut up Micheal, I'm only here long enough to drop you off with your partner digimon."

Eyes flashing with rage, the fist moved even before he let out the scream of rage, it's impact against the messy haired boy sending him tumbling backwards. "Partner, what partner, you killed him back there, just as you kill everything else."

Moving to attack again, he stopped as several glittering clouds covered him, his nose twitching as whatever it was got sucked in along with the ragged breath of air. "Ya...Gami, you." Dropping down as he felt his whole body tense up, he spat out a weak cough and gazed at his hated foe. "You... will... pay."

Sneezing as well, Tai nearly fell over as he moved back to avoid breathing in more of the glittering powder. "What, what is that?"

"My pollen." The reply causing everyone to look over at the digimon who had spoken, her eyes focused on the two boys with a tired expression. "I think you both could use something to cool of, and my pollen, robs your of the will to fight." Her eyes narrowing in mirth as she moved her full attention over onto Tai. "Well, except you, you barely got hit by it."

Walking into the small gathering, she cast a look over at her human partner, eyes watering a bit as she saw her unhurt before her. "Catherine, you, you're okay." Rushing forward, she embraced the French girl's leg, a big smile on her face as she gazed up her. "I didn't really think he could do it, but he got you back to me."

Frowning, Mimi glared down at the flower type digimon. "Hey, I helped him you know, sure, we didn't really dent Karatenmon until Paildramon showed up, but Lillymon helped her, and I held her the whole way over here."

Rising a single eyebrow at the rant, Floramon tuned her head and gazed over at Tai. "Hey, thank you for getting her back to me, maybe you aren't so bad after all." Moving back to face Mimi, she let out a deep sigh as the evil eyes she was receiving. "And thanks to you as well, I'm sure you did a good job getting Catherine back as well."

Pulling out his digivice, Tai narrowed his eyes as he cast a hard look on the flower type digimon. "Hey, Floramon?" His voice making the digimon focus on him. "Can you tell me, how to unseal the four soverns?" His face growing dark with seriousness, he gave his full attention to her. "Cause after what happened today, I know we will be needing their help."

* * *

"I got a signal." Looking back over his shoulder, Davis grinned as he watched TK yelling out the words, the blond haired boy staring down at his D3. "He's up ahead." 

Turning back around his attention, Davis frowned as the outline of mount Infinity became clearer and clearer, the large mountain rising up higher then even mount Fuji back on earth. "Hang on Ken, we're coming for you."

Sitting on Shakkoumon, Kari grunted as she moved her attention away from the view before them with a curious glance, a simple though having tumbled around in her head for a while. "Hey guys, why do you think they took Ken?" Her question aimed at both Yolei and TK, the two of them looking at their D3s intently as she spoke. "You don't think they might try to, you know, bring back the digimon emperor."

Biting her lips softly at the younger girl's words, Yolei kept her trouble emotions on the inside as she turned to regard the mountain in the distance. "I don't know Kari, but if he does, I don't if." Freezing her last words, she looked down as a beeping sound reached her from the D3s. "Now what's wrong with them?"

Pulling out her own, Kari frowned as she gazed at it. "There's something else here."

Eyes narrowing, TK looked up with a glow of determination in his eyes. "It's a destiny stone, it has to be."

* * *

Looking away briefly as a Bakemon floated in, Babel grinned as he saw the small device it was holding. "You found it, the last destiny stone?" His words more of a statement then a question as he could clearly seen the glowing dot on the screen before him. "And the other digi destined are heading here as well, and I'm guessing the smaller dot over there is Yagami and his little fling." 

Laughing softly as he gazed down at his little brother, his simply lifted up one hand and snapped his fingers, the sound echoing around them. "Gennai, I have a mission for you."

From the shadows with in the temple, the simple call was answered as a lumbering shadow stepped fourth, the size of it dwarfing both Babel and Ken. "My faithful servant Gennai, go and show those digi destined that there will be no easy entry to my new domain."

Turning his attention over to Skullsatamon he smirked widely. "As for the rest of us, we shall journey to the destiny stone, and meet them there." Moving around in a fluid move, he lifted up one hand and snapped it out before him. "This is it people, the moment we've been waiting for, my triumph."

Glancing over at Ken standing up, he smirked darkly. "And you Kenny, get to have a front row seat for the main event of the year."

TBC: Sovern Digimon Azulongmon, dragon of the East.

AN: Sorry about the delay in getting this chapter done, I had another minor round of writers block, not to mention I am now actively seeking for a job. Yes people, I am looking for a job, since doing nothing doesn't pay my bills or put food on the table, as such, I have cut down on the number of fics I work on even more.

The Babel arc will be over soon with only about three chapters to go, and after that it will be Myotismon's arc, which I believe will only be a two chapter one, followed by Deamon's rise and fall.

On another note, my homepage is back up and running, So if you want to check it out, go to. www dot deminohoyer dot com.

On that page, you can also find stories by Drager, Gyzzmo, art by some of his friends and some done by me. I also have a section there for art made for my stories by the readers.


	25. Part XXV

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Summery: AU, very AU and dark, with mentioning of torture, violence and blood drinking.

* * *

Spawn of the vampire  
Sovern Digimon Azulongmon, dragon of the East.

* * *

Recap time:

The battle with Michael and Catherine is over. As a result of that battle, Knightmon mega digivolved into Wargreymon, and destroyed Michael's Metaltyrranomon who had also digivolved into a Wargreymon.

In the background Babel has made his latest move for glory, kidnapping Ken and demanding that the digi destined hand over their digi mentals for him. Lastly, he invaded File Island and took control of Mount Infinity and the temple of Baihumon on the very top.

Ken, after finally meeting Babel, declared that he wasn't his brother, but a monster looking like him. This defiance and refusal to join Babel, earned him the wrath of the mad man who cut off all ties with him, declaring that he could die with the other digi destined.

Going after his own goal, Skullsatamon, after having handed over Ken showed more of his dislike for the human mad man Babel. Reminding him that Daemon where to be freed before Babel could even begin to think of destroying anything, implying that he wouldn't hesitate to kill him to ensure it would be done.

And now, one with the story

* * *

Wind streaming through her hair, Jun gazed out at the growing island in the distance, her mouth stuck in a frown as she felt her stomach rumble loudly. Clearly, it was complaining about the lack of food eaten by her, and the last time she had tried to feed, as she normally would have, she had vomited as the first few drops of blood had entered her mouth.

Since then, she had been feeling like something was clawing at her stomach and chest, trying to force her to feed again despite the disgust she had felt at it. "Babel." The words full of spite, she glanced down at the ocean below her. Were the changes in her body because of him?

Pushing down the doubts and dark thoughts, she grumbled as she looked back down at her ride, Blackwargreymon carrying her on his back as he continued to speed across the vast digital ocean. "Are you sure what we seek is there?" Her voice level and calm, she did feel a light touch of fear at questioning the digimon.

For his part, Blackwargreymon had glanced upwards as soon as he had picked up the sound of her stomach growling, yellow colored eyes narrowing as he watched her confused expression. "I can feel it, the presence of a dark force, and a growing power, like the one I felt earlier from the west."

Tilting her head lightly, she narrowed her eyes as she gazed forward, a nagging feeling growing in the back of her mind as File Island kept growing in the distance. "I can feel him you know, it's faint, but he's there." Her voice growing lower in volume, she closed her eyes as the overwhelming desire for revenge flooded her mind. "Babel, you will pay for what you did to me, and so will you Yagami."

Returning his gaze to the ocean below, Blackwargreymon would have shrugged at the almost mindless need for revenge she kept ranting about.

She was so confusing to him; she clung to the idea of killing off this Babel guy, and that Yagami character. Were they really worth all this anger from her? "Remember the agreement, Babel and Yagami are not the number one priority goal, the digi destined are."

And even as the words left his mouth, he couldn't help but wonder if he really had any justification for berating her about her narrow minded quest for revenge.

Wasn't his need for answer just as narrow minded, and utterly devoid of any concern about the digital world? He had examined the events to the south, and the strange feeling of unrest from the north told him the same destruction had happened there as well.

But it hadn't really mattered to him, it had caused him pain when those stones were corrupted, but he had no real care about them. The need for answers to his question overrode everything else.

And it should have overridden his concern for the human girl on his back, but it didn't. "Girl, we'll arrive in a few minutes, better get yourself together as we'll be landing near that forest." Head tilted down, he could already judge where to find her something to eat, and maybe even something to drink.

It was confusing. She was nothing to him, just a means to finding the digi destined. Nothing more. So why was he so concerned about her welfare.

Stretching for a long time, the silence was finally broken as a loud beeping filled the air, both Jun And Blackwargreymon taking a second to catch their breath from a mild shock.

Letting out a snarl, Jun tore her digivice up, her eyes narrowing as she glanced down at the two lights blinking on its screen. "Alright, there are two of them, heading towards File Island from the western area." Looking down at the backside of Blackwargreymon's head, she grinned as she could literally feel his desire to find out who they were as well. "If we head towards the North-West, we will be able to intercept them."

Not responding, Blackwargreymon simply changed his direction, sunlight streaming off his claws briefly as he increased his speed.

* * *

Holding on tightly to Wargreymon's back, Tai, Mimi watched the ocean below them, a thick silence filling the air as each one didn't really know what to talk about. Next to them, Lillymon were just as silent, her whole mind locked in on trying to understand why her partner kept on returning to that messy haired boy.

To each of them, the conversation with Floramon, Betamon were still to fresh in their mind. Plus, the clear hatred and traces of madness that Michael had shown hadn't done wonders to Mimi who had hoped he could be saved like Tai had been, that he could be freed of the darkness within him.

Brooding as he held on tightly, Tai kept watching the ocean below as he went back over the previous events, his reactions to the hateful words spat out by Michael. A part of him admitting to the accusations leveled at him, knowing that even if he had been influence by Babel's virus, he still had a big part of the blame.

However, he had still acted rude and angry with the boy, simply because of the other things he had been yelling. Mimi had nothing to do with it at all; she had been as much a victim as Michael had been, the only difference lying in the fact that he had seen more then just a victim in her.

He had seen something that had halted his evil, turned him around completely, and made him reject the darkness and madness of Babel's cause.

"Mimi?" Breaking the silence, Tai lifted up his gaze to see the pink loving girl focus on him, the mildly distrusting glance of her partner digimon added in as the fairy like plant type digimon flew closer. "You know, when this is all over, do you think we could, you know."

Stumbling over the words, Tai gaze momentarily flickered off to the side, and froze there as a rapidly growing dark spot began to materialize. "Mimi, look out." Moving forward and pushing her, he kept his gaze locked on the now clearly seen digimon rushing forward. "Wargreymon, move, he's going to hit us."

Looking up, Wargreymon shot upwards, Mimi getting knocked off completely by the sudden change in direction, her rescue coming in the form of Lillymon grabbing her. "Tai, you jerk, what do you think you're..." Never ending her sentence, she let out a scream as something black shot past, the tail wind whipping her and Lillymon around. "What was that?"

Barely holding onto Wargreymon's shield, Tai cast a cold glance down at the digimon who had stopped moving, dark skinned arms and legs tensing up as it turned around to face them. "Blackwargreymon."

Gazing from one of them to the other, Blackwargreymon's golden eyes sent a shiver down the spine of both Tai and Wargreymon as the darker colored dinosaur man like digimon began to hover closer to them. "You, do you have the answers I seek?"

Narrowing his eyes, Tai sent a cold glare at the one looking back at him from Blackwargreymon's back, a hairstyle almost as messy as his own, eyes full of spite and anger, and a sickening sweet smile as she gazed from him to Mimi. "Well now, isn't this a surprise, we come looking for digi destined, and find my two old pains in the butt."

Smirking as she lowered her head a bit, she let out a chuckle. "These two don't have any answers for you, all they got, is a connection to Babel."

Eyes narrowing as he let out a barely heard sigh, Blackwargreymon held up his dagger tipped gauntlets and held out one to point at them. "Then, they will tell me about him, and of those corrupted stones."

* * *

Letting out an yawn as he nearly fell asleep, Davis muttered out a curse as he snapped back to attention, part of him regretting that late night playing videogames the day before, and the stress and worry from knowing that Ken had been kidnapped, and now this whole thing with the new destiny stone.

Doing a quick, yet limited stretching exercise, the young, messy haired boy leaned back and focus on the rest of the group, the other looking just as tired as himself. "Everyone holding up back there?" The words carrying back with ease, reaching the nearest one. "TK, think you get you digimon to move faster, we've can't waste much more time, Ken could be in danger right now."

Rubbing his own shoulder, TK sighed as he shook his head briefly. "Davis, we need to make sure the destiny stone doesn't get corrupted." Staring intently into the other boy's face, TK gave a short smile at him. "Besides, Babel will be there, or at least Skullsatamon."

"Right." Yolei added in as she grinned at them. "After all, we already kicked LadyDevimon's and Marinedevimon's butt, so only bone head and Babel remains." Then her grin flattered as she noticed the solemn look on Kari. "Hey, you okay there Kari?"

Shaking her head, Kari gave a short nod as she focused on her side passenger on Shakkoumon, her eyes clouded for a second as her mind went back over the thoughts in her head. "It just, this Babel, he's the one who corrupted Tai."

"And Jun." Davis added in as he gave the two girls his full attention. "Even the digimon emperor can't compare to the amount of destruction this guys done."

Opening his mouth to reply to the statement, TK blinked as several Airdramons flew past them, smaller digimons standing on their back with small wooden clubs in their hands. "Great, who are these guys?"

Up front, Silphymon cast a quick look over at them, the Gatomon part of her recognizing them from her journey to recruit forces to Myotismon's army in the past. "Their Goblinmon, rookie digimons, their Goblin Bomb packs quite a punch." Tilting her head further to the side, she frowned and held out one hand. "Guys, I think that Ogremon is trying to contact you."

Snapping his head around, TK stared as a slightly large Airdramon drew up close to them, an Ogremon staring right at him with a grin on his face. "Ogremon, is that you?"

Lifting up his club in greeting, Ogremon swept his eyes across the group, a glimmer of hope growing fourth within him. "Ay digi destined, it's been a while." Looking down at the ground below, he signaled for the other Airdramons to descend. "If you have the time kid, I would like to talk with you and your friends."

Frowning a bit at the request, TK looked back at the others, his eyes stopped for a bit as he looked at Kari. "Okay." His voice barely heard as he turned back to face Ogremon. "But not for long, we need to find a human called Babel, he's kidnapped one of our friends."

His face taking on a grim expression, Ogremon simply held out his bone club pointing it at Mount Infinity in the distance. "The human you talk off, has seized control of the mountain, and driven out my men and I." Spreading out his hand, he cast a dark look at each kid. "This human, he caused massive amount of destruction, level our training school and delete countless digimons."

Holding up a clenched up hand, he closed his eyes briefly. "He had these digimons with him, an undead digimon as cruel and evil as Devimon if not worse, and following him." Voice shaking as he spoke, he quickly shook his head. "That feral digimon, it just gazed at us, driving us away with its presence alone, none of us could stand up to it."

Mouth turning into a line, the digi destined shared one common thought, that Babel had one more member off his group besides Skullsatamon remaining.

Coughing lightly to regain their attention, Ogremon held out his club, pointing off towards the desert region of File Island. "We have set up a temporary camp in the desert, if you want to, you can follow us there." Gazing intently at each of them, he saw them slowly nod. "Good, this human, he had with him something strange, it looked like digieggs made out of metal."

"Our digi mentals." Came the reply from Cody as he looked up, one hand clenching up in anger. "He took them from us when we entered into his base."

Holding up her digivice, Kari frowned as she watched it, the faint outline of the destiny stone of Azulongmon still showing up on it. "Excuse me, Ogremon, but we really need to find something called a Destiny Stone first." Seeing the confused expression crossing the digimons face, she held out her digivice. "Babel's out to corrupt them, if he gets this one, this while region will be lost."

Crossing his arms, Ogremon let out a deep hum as he closed his eyes. "A destiny stone." His voice aimed more at himself then to the digi destined; he nodded once before looking up. "Trying to free the soverns are you?"

Smirking as he looked around at the Goblimon's around him, he held up his club. "All of you return to the camp, tell the others to stay on guard." Turning his full attention onto TK, he chuckled lightly as he tapped his Airdramon on the side on the head. "As for you, follow me, I'll show you where the destiny stone is."

Grinning, the digi destined nodded as they began to follow after Ogremon and his Airdramon.

* * *

Ducking back rapidly to avoid getting cut, Wargreymon cursed as he heard Tai le tout a cry of pain, the young human no doubt having smacked into the side of his courage shield. "Tai, we can't fight with you on our back." Letting out the statement, he aimed one hand downwards. "Blackwargreymon, if you want a fight, I must insist on you letting me put my partner down where he can be safe."

Nearly hurling at the words, and from the massive amount of tumbling around she had done, Jun glanced down at the light colored digimon. "What's wrong, you think Yagami's so weak he can't even keep up with us?" Smirking as she held out a hand, she pointed right at Wargreymon's chest. "Now, now's your chance, aim for him."

Holding out both hands, Blackwargreymon growled as he held out both his hands, the red glow of his main attack forming between the gauntlets. "Silence girl, don't tell me how to fight." Flying forward while pulling in more power, he roared as he shot it forward. "This battle, is between me and them, you just sit back, and stay silent if you want our agreement to be kept."

"Blackwargreymon!" Screaming out the name, Wargreymon shot in close, one gauntlet covered hand grinding itself into the face of the darker toned digimon before him, the sound of metal grinding against metal ringing out. "This fight is pointless, all you are doing is giving Babel the time he needs to."

Getting smacked backwards before he could finish his sentence, Wargreymon wasted no time in flipping back over, hearing Tai curse as he smacked down into his back. "Very well, if this is the only way." Holding up both gauntlet-covered hands before him, Wargreymon glared right into the golden eyes of his opponent. "I'll fight you!"

Hovering further down below, Lillymon let out a gasp as she felt her strength falling. "Mimi, I don't think I can hold you much longer." Her voice stained as she gazed up at the fight above. "We need to find a landing ground."

Eyes fully focused on the battle above, Mimi shook her head as she narrowed her eyes, her gaze fully locked on the battle, her heart and mind battling as one part knew Lillymon was right, and the other wanted her to stay and fight along side Tai and Wargreymon. "We shouldn't, he needs us."

Her voice barely heard, she glance down at her tag and digivice, eyes closing as she held onto both of them. "I don't really know why I got this one back." Her voice growing smaller, she glance dup. "Was it to help them, or sort out my emotions?"

Holding the tag and her digivice close she let out a soft sigh. "No matter what is was, I need it, the power it has." Her words soft, she cast a look up. "Lillymon, we need to help them, I need to." Holding up her digivice, she gave of her most sincere smile. "I want to help him, I want to help the one I, the one I."

"Love"

Ducking around another series of punches, Wargreymon panted as he struggled to gain some space. "Tai, we, we don't know if we can keep this up." Arms shaking as he blocked a powerful double strike, he grinded his teeth together as he shot backwards to gain yet more space. "We're running out of strength, the battle with Michael's Wargreymon, and the flight over here been draining us."

Nodding softly, Tai glanced up to see Jun do the same over Blackwargreymon's shoulder. "Jun, why are you doing this?" The words yelled out, Tai watched Jun's dark glare as it shifted a bit. "Babel tossed you aside as well, you should be fighting with us against him, not against all of us?"

"Just shut up Yagami." Came the spat out reply as Blackwargreymon shot back through the air, putting distance between himself and Wargreymon. "You betrayed Babel, you deserved what you got, constantly out staging me, I was his most loyal servant, I did nothing but obey every single order he gave me, and what did I get in return, nothing, nothing but hate and spite!"

Lashing out with her hand, she grinned as a maniac glint filled her eyes. "Well, I'm going to pay both you and him back for all of it!"

His attention fully focused on his opponent, Blackwargreymon had still heard every single word, letting them sink in and felt a light frown form on his face beneath his mask. "Jun?" The name softly spoken as he crossed both arms in front of him, the metal gauntlets clinging as they met. "Hold on tightly."

Her eyes growing wide at the softness in his voice, she did as he said as the first tendrils of dark power swept in around them, the air giving off a low pitch. "What are you going to do?"

Smirking, Blackwargreymon shot forward, the power he had gather wrapping around him as he trusted out both gauntlet-covered hands. "Black Tornado!" As he began to spin around rapidly, he heard Jun scream bloody murder from behind his head.

Letting out a curse as the black tornado came closer, Wargreymon reached around to his back, tearing lose the two halves of his shield, belatedly remembering Tai as a loud curse rang out. "Sorry!" Slamming the shield together at the last second, he felt the very moment the shield gave in, the black tornado having been stopped all right, but his shield having been torn into several pieces. "Tai, we need a plan, now!"

Snapping his head up, Tai glanced at Blackwargreymon as the digimon hovered backwards, a strange slowness to it, almost as if he was trying to spare Jun from getting tossed off. "He's, concerned for her?" Shaking his head as the desire for victory rushed in, Tai narrowed his eyes as he snapped a finger forward. "Now, hit him with your best attack!"

Having seen the same thing as Tai, Blackwargreymon snapped himself out of it as he slammed both hands together, orange energy forming between each palm. "Here Goes!" Doing a mild spin, he pulled in as much as he dared, finally throwing it off as he faced the dark toned digimon again. "Terra Force!"

Snarling in spite, Blackwargreymon ripped off his own shield halves, slamming them together in time to feel the full power of the Terra Force impact it, the metal giving after and fracturing as he pulled them apart. "Not bad, not bad at all."

Pulling back the heavily damaged shield, he kept a wary eye on Wargreymon. "You are a powerful digimon alright, more then enough to be a worthy opponent." As he spoke, Blackwargreymon felt power flow into him, the energy spreading out over his whole body. "But if you think I will give up or lose, you are wrong."

"Until I have my answers." Willing the power into the space between his hands, the dark tone digimon looked across the distance as he felt he had gathered up enough. "I will never lose! Terra Destoy..."

Blinking as something green and pink shot up from behind Wargreymon, Blackwargreymon watched as the small, fairy like digimon let go of the girl she had been holding, the lighter colored digimon grabbing her with a surprise grunt. "What is this?"

Letting out a giggled as she flew in close, Lillymon giggled as she waved a finger back and fourth between him. "This, this is a small time out for you, flowery!" Spinning around his arms rapidly, Lillymon let out a chuckle as she stopped and flew backwards, a ring of flowers pulling in tight around his arms. "Bye!"

Screaming as his arms were roughly pulled together, Blackwargreymon cursed the moment of surprise which had caused him to lose focus, the result of his hands and arms getting pulled together, the pressure on his terra destroyer increasing.

Letting out a loud swearing curse, Blackwargreymon felt like both his hands were run over by a red hot mountain, the power of his own attack knocking him back over, bits and pieces of his gauntlets falling down towards the ocean below, along with a messy haired girl. "Jun!"

Ripping the badly burnt flower ring apart, the dark toned dinosaur like digimon shot downwards as fast he cold, his body quickly catching up to Jun's. "Human, open your damn eyes." Grabbing her softly, he slowed down their descend and looked up at the two digi destined and their digimons. "You! If she is hurt in anyway, I will not stop until you are all completely destroyed!"

Holding Mimi in his arms, Wargreymon glared darkly at his opponent, his eyes locked right into the golden ones. "If anyone is to blame for this, it is you, you're there one who attacked us."

Glowing with anger, Blackwargreymon began to rise back up again, murder on his mind as he took in the sight of the two humans and their digimons. "Worthless creature, if if wasn't for your and you little fairy's cowardly attack, this fight wouldn't have ended this way."

From his place on Wargreymon, Tai looked down at Blackwargreymon, his eyes settling on Jun, the messy haired girl groaning a bit as twisted a bit in the dark toned digimons arms "You know, we should head for File Island, we can finish this there if you want too."

Giving a nod at Jun as she began to shake her head, he returned his attention to the narrowed, golden eyes of the dark toned digimon holding her. "It would be best for her too."

Finding that the human boy's words had some value to them, Blackwargreymon shifted the human girl in his arms to a more comfortable position. "Lead the way, but don't think I have forgotten hat this about, I still want to know about this Babel."

"Babel." Tai breathed out as he lowered his eyes a bit. "He was responsible for creating me, and Jun." Nodding more to himself, then to any of the others, he looked up. "Will you cease fighting us if I tell you what I know about him?"

Not giving out a confirming response, Blackwargreymon simply grunted as he began to follow them his arms holding onto Jun protectively as he kept a firm eye on both of the other digimons, and the rapidly growing island in the distance. "Boy, you said he crated you, yet you are not a digimon? Nor is Jun one. What did you mean by that?"

Sharing a quick, painful look with Mimi, Tai turned his attention back to Blackwargreymon. "I am a human, but I also have something from the digital world inside of me, as do Jun, and Mimi here." Giving off a thoughtful expression for a second, Tai shook his head a bit. "I'm not sure if he gave the same thing to Michael or Catherine."

Returning to his tale, Tai gave a weak smile down at Blackwargreymon. "I loved my sister you know, I would have died if it meant keeping her safe, and I nearly did, at the hands of a digimon called."

"Myotismon." Came the comment from Blackwargreymon, a short, confused look flowing over his face as he spoke the name of a digimon he had never met.

Shaking of his surprise at the interruption, Tai mentally shrugged and continued. "Myotismon beat me when my sister didn't arrived at the time he had set, tossing me off to the side of the TV station like trash when they finally arrived."

"Dragged down into the alley by his Bakemons, I don't really remember how long I was down there, when he showed up, Babel, he offered me life again, a chance for survival. I took it, and passed out."

"He carried me back to his apartment, where I met Blackgatomon, and told me to rest, to let the changes come to me naturally. Far as I know, he found Jun after the digi destined had defeated Venom-Myotismon, I still don't know what deal they made, but I didn't meet her for a long time. I guess Babel didn't want both his servants in one place while he looked for a way back here."

Looking down, Tai let out a small sigh. "I, I did things while I served him, things I can't really remember, but still know were sick and wrong."

Gazing at Tai, Blackwargreymon didn't say a single thing as he continued to fly after the small group. The tale hadn't affected him much, but it had given him some things to consider.

From what he had heard, this Babel was some kind of monster carrying digital data inside of him, and with the ability to pass it on to others as well.

Things were more confusing now then before.

* * *

Entering into the small area around the mountain base, Babel cast a dull look around the place. "No wonder no one has really found it until now." His comment aimed at the plain area, and the fact that stone could be seen resting under the water of a small lake. "A perfect place for an ambush."

Snapping his fingers, Babel watched as the digimentals pedestal was placed before him, two Neodevimon grunted as they lowered it down. "Good, bring out the special container." Yelling out the order at a nearby Bakemon, he turned to regard the digimons tying down Ken. "Good, I want him to be secure, and unable to escape or talk."

Turning to face a third direction, he chuckled lightly as he watched Skullsatamon walk towards him, the undead digimon glowing with anger as he approached. "Ah, just the mon I was looking for." Letting off a light chuckle as he spoke, Babel nodded at the digimons around him. "Come, come, I want you to see the trap I'm setting, how brilliant it is."

Clenching his staff tightly, Skullsatamon shot a dirty look at the digimons around him, further adding in the message that he wanted them to back off. "Babel!" Spitting out the name much like one would spit out a curse, Babel kept a cold glare on the young, human man before him "Have you forgotten your side of the bargain? All of this, none of it was meant to be prepared before Lord Daemon had been freed."

Allowing a momentarily look of confusion to cross his face, Babel finally let out a chuckle, pulling out his homemade digivice and staring at each of the four digi cores on it. "Of course I haven't forgotten my friend, it's just, and I've made a few decision lately."

Holding out his staff as power began to flow into it, Skullsatamon sent a look of pure and utter hatred towards the human before him. "What decisions? Human."

Looking of to the side to see the Bakemon arrive with the requested item, Babel fet his confidence return to him once more, one hand reaching up to brush away a bang of hair. "First, let me show you something, it's really great you know." At the last word, he snapped his fingers.

Turning his head to see the Bakemon open the container, he blinked as a small, transparent digimon slid out of it, the slimy thing regarding him and everything else with a look of indifferent. "An Imitamon? Is that what you wanted me to see, it's the weakest of your creations!"

Letting a cold, evil smirk fill his face, Babel held out his homemade digivice, a group of Neodevimons flying in over the Imitamon. "Not quiet, Imitamon, digivolve!"

Stepping back as the Imitamon snapped into action, Skullsatamon watched as several tentacles shot out from the small creature, each one latching into the chest of the Neodevimon. A flow of data seeping out from the synthetic digimons rapidly "What the? What are you trying to pull human?"

Still smirking, Babel didn't even turn away from the scene. "Just watch."

Staring to glow, the Imitamon lifted off from the ground, each of its tentacles ripping free the last of the Neodevimons digital date, the last streams flowing down his tentacles as they merged with his body which had increased its glow with each data stream. "Imitamon, warp digivolve too."

Letting out a bright light as it shrunk in size, Imitamon's body sucked in the last of the Neodevimons data, before exploding outward in size, it's body growing rapidly in size, easily over shadowing the remaining Neodevimons and Skullsatamon as it took on a drop shape, a jagged tail forming beneath it as it turned lime green in color.

Shooting out from the sides of the huge body, his arms ended in three fingered hands metal covered hands, a bizarrely small head forming with a mask on it, a dark toned glass visor covering its eyes, small spiky hair shooting out from the back of it, and finally, on the stomach, a large scanning screen and two golden sphere like blobs formed. "Metamormon!"

Taking a step back to take in the sight of the grotesque digimon, Skullsatamon let out a short back as he turned to regard Babel next to him. "You must be joking, really, what do you expect that thing to do, scare off everyone with a bizarre stare?"

Giving of a patronizing sound, Babel slowly began to laugh as he watched Skullsatamon's anger increase. "Really, Metamormon's got a special gift my former friend." Snapping his finger, Metamormon let out a low groan as the scanning device kicked in, it's head focused fully on Skullsatamon before it. "He can copy any digimons form, and their powers and abilities as well."

Feeling like he had just been poked all over, Skullsatamon snapped out a curse as he flung his staff around to face Metamormon, the huge digimon glowing brightly. "Nail Bone!"

Letting out a curse as the attack missed, Skullsatamon soon found himself face to face with his own mirror image, the undead digimon moving to face Babel again, didn't miss the look from the human as another digimon emerged. "Babel, you dare betray Lord Daemon?"

Smiling wickedly, Babel simply pattered Gennai as the former digital guarding gazed across the short distance and right into Skullsatamon's eyes. "It's not that hard to understand is it, I don't want to leave the digital world in his hands, I want it destroyed completely, along with every digimon there is, even your precious Lord Daemon."

"You!" Spitting out the word in anger, Skullsatamon's eyes flashed with rage as he poured in as much power as he could into the gem on his staff. "Nail!"

"Rodeo Bullet!"

Screaming loudly as three perfect shots hit his hand, Skullsatamon stumbled backwards, his staff falling down with a clatter on the ground. "You! We had a deal human!"

Shaking his head while smirking widely, Babel barely bothered to pay attention to the ranting undead. "A deal you and your lord were planning on breaking as soon as soon as you could, no doubt." Narrowing his eyes with the last part of the sentence, he focused on Metamormon. "You may destroy him, my pet."

Holding out his staff, Metamormon in the shape of Skullsatamon focused on the real Skullsatamon glaring at him. Already, power had flown into his staff. "Nail Bone!"

Screaming again, Skullsatamon found himself knocked backwards, his right arm ripped apart just above the elbow bone, the lower part of it breaking apart into digital data. "Bastard."

Laughing loudly at the comment, Babel gave a small bow as he took in the sheer rage flowing fourth from the undead digimon before him. "My parents were married thank you, more then what can be said about you, who came from a lousy egg dropped in a swamp no doubt."

Moving to bash in the human man's head with his remaining hand alone, the undead digimon were forced to suck as his staff were nearly hammered into his head, a Neodevimon wielding it as it hovered above him. "I see, you really thought this one through."

Nodding at first, Babel focused entirely on the undead digimon. "True, and now, you may die." Snapping his fingers again, he chuckled as Gennai and Metamormon began to advance. "When you see Daemon again, tell him I'll be coming for him."

"I will." Eyes glowing as he spoke, Skullsatamon let out a low chuckled as he seemingly fell down into the shadow cast by Babel and his new digimon. "Or rather, you tell him, when he gets here." Holding out the homemade digivice he had stolen, the undead digimon chuckled at the shocked expression on Babel's face.

Watching the ground that Skullsatamon had vanished into, Babel clenched up both hands, his eyes narrowed as much as they could. "Lousy." Spinning around, he glared at the Bakemons and Neodevimons. "Get back to work, I want everything ready for their arrival, you hear me!"

* * *

Remerging into the shadows of the grounded fortress, Skullsatamon let out a groan of pain as he slid down a nearby wall, his whole body shuddering as the pain of his injuries caught up to him. "Master." Forcing his body to work, he stood up and walked over to the nearby set of computers. "I can no longer delay this, his betrayal is too soon."

Inserting the home digivice into the slot where it belonged, he watched as each screen lit up, the surrounding area of File Island showing up in the form of a map. "Hmm, so the brats are this close as well." Tracking the two sets of glowing dots, he hissed as he began to type up the commands for the digital gate programs. "Hopefully, they will keep the human fool occupied."

Opening up the needed program, the undead digimon let out a grin of triumph, his fingers flying over the gate control buttons, slowly entering in the proper code for the Dark Area. "Lord Daemon, this is Skullsatamon, there has been a new development."

Toning fourth on the screens around him, Daemon's face stared down at Skullsatamon with those cold, unfeeling purple eyes as he waited patiently for the connection to be complete.

After what felt like an eternity to the undead digimon, the connection was complete as a loud beeping sound informed him off. "My lord, Babel has broken the agreement. He's planning to destroy everything, even you." Reaching out and pressing in more commands, Skullsatamon stood up tall as a faint humming sound filled the room. "I have no choice my lord, with the last of my power, I will open the gate for you and take your place in the dark area, freeing you."

"I understand." Lifting up one hand as fire washed over it, Daemon let out a chuckle as he let the flame grow bigger. "I will destroy this Babel as revenge for your death Skullsatamon. That you can be sure off." Lighting his whole body up with fire, the cloak he had been wearing vanished as his true form showed up.

The massive wings on his back, the fur covered arms, the right one ending in a normal monster like hand, while the left one ended in an oversized one, a small, bare part of the arm giving it a longer each. Above each hand, the fur ended in what looked like oversized fangs, the same went for the legs, where each foot had only three toes with large claws on each.

His face looked much like one would expect a demon's to look like, huge horns from the front sides of his head, massive jaws full of sharp teeth, and a flat nose. From his back, two huge wings were halfway folded up, each one sporting four huge claws at the wing joint.

Turning his full attention onto the undead digimon on the other side of the screen, Daemon let out a cold laugh as he reduced the fire to only his two hands. "Now, open the gateway, and I shall burn the three worlds to ash with our combined rage."

Smirking as he reached out, Skullsatamon felt his power flare up, moving into the homemade digivice, and through that into the gate program, forcing it to open. "Heh, it was an honor serving you, my lord, I only wish, I could have had the chance to crush the little boy, and his angel digimon this time around."

Shattering apart into a cloud of digital data, Skullsatamon's last remains began to flow into the computers, each screen letting out a powerful light as data flowed into it. "LadyDevimon, MarineDevimon, I'm coming!"

As it died down, the light form the screens illuminated the form of Daemon the massive digimon simply staring down at the floor before him. "Finally, I'm free at last." Chuckling as he walked forward, he stopped as a faint sound reached him from behind. "Who's there!"

Turning around, he barely managed to see the Bakemon floating through the wall, the homemade digivice in its hands. "I see, recovering the stolen device for your master, very well." Turning back around, he smirked as he walked forward. "I know where he will be going, and you can be sure that I will wait for him there."

* * *

Landing with his Airdramon at the foot of Mount Infinity, Ogremon grunted as he watched the digi destined and their digimon partners land around him. "Alright digi destined, the Destiny Stone is located in a spring near the foot of the mountain, you can't miss it, it's the only one around." Pointing his bone club towards the mountain base, he narrowed his eyes. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll have to return to the camp, can't leave the Goblimons alone for too long."

Turning his head to watch as Ogremon left, TK allowed a small smile to form at the thought of the green skinned digimon being their enemy in the past. "Alright guys, we need to get to that Destiny Stone."

Giving a thumps up in agreement, Davis looked in the direction Ogremon had pointed out. "Yeah, the sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can."

"Hand over your digi mentals."

Spinning around at the comment, Davis found himself glaring at the sight of a young, human man with purple hair smirking right at them from the front seat of a simple jeep. "Unless of course you want to do it the hard way?" Snapping his fingers a group of Neodevimons shot out from hiding at the signal, all of them growling as they began to advance on the dragon man like digimon. "Now please, give me your digimentals, and I promise Ken will be set free, if not."

Smirking darkly back at him, Davis glance dup at Paildramon, the massive Dragon man like digimon nodding back down at him as he cracked his Knuckles. "TK, Take Kari and the others and find Ken. I'll deal with this Digimon Emperor wannabe and his Neodevimons."

"Davis." Came the utter out comment From Kari at the command from their leader, the messy haired boy smirking as he and Paildramon began to advance.

Next to her, TK watched the scene for a second before grinned as he gave Davis a thumps up. "Okay, let's go, Davis will take of this, we've got to find the Destiny stone."

Taking note of the digi destined running away along with their digimons partners, Babel focused on the remaining one before him. "I see, it's going to be the hard way then." Snapping his fingers, the Neodevimons broke formation; two remaining behind to fight Paildramon while the rest took off after the others. "I command your bravery boy, but not your intelligence, everyone knows not to split up in the face of superior forces."

Glancing backwards, Paildramon lowered his arms a bit. "Davis, run, go after the others as well." Seeing the protesting look on his partners face, Paildramon grunted as the Neodevimons began to advance. "Davis, please, if you stay, we won't be able to fight all out, we'd." Trailing off in the end, Paildramon knocked back one Neodevimon a sit came to close. "Davis, please!"

Feeling like he had been insulted at first, Davis froze as he watched the Neodevimons, his mind already seeing what his partner had wanted to say. "Okay, give it your best Paildramon, delete those losers." Turning to run away, Davis frowned as he began to advance, the faint outline of Babel and his forces still clear in the distance. "Don't worry Ken, I'm coming."

* * *

Grimacing as Neodevimons dived down from the sky, TK let out a curse as he could pick up the sounds of Babel approaching as well. "It's no good, we'll be surrounded if we keep going like this." Turning to face Kari and Yolei, he sighed mentally as he saw them gaze back. "Kari, you and Yolei keep going, Cody and I will hold him off."

Not waiting for a response, Cody and TK slid to a stop as Kari and Yolei broke off, Shakkoumon hovering above them while Silphymon took off flying rapidly. "You nervous?" The question aimed at the younger boy as Babel approached. "Don't be, we can win this, we've stood up to so many others, and won."

Snapping out his hand, TK grinned as he watched the remaining Neodevimons behind Babel draw in for a all out assault on them. "Shakkoumon, you only get one shot at this, you must take them out before the others get here."

Rearing back as power surged into his eyeholes, Shakkoumon focused completely on the Neodevimons as they shot forward, dark power flowing into their hands. "Justice Beam!"

Tearing the steering wheel hard to the right, Babel cursed as the Neodevimons in front of him were knocked backwards at first, their screams of pain giving him a light headache as they were ripped apart, their data fading away rapidly afterwards.

Turning to face the two humans and their digimon, Babel stood up in the driver's seat, one hand clenching up as he gazed at the sky above. "You, go after the girls!" Pointing the direction with his other hand, Babel focused on the smirking TK and Cody. "And you two, don't even think you've won. Metamormon"

Looking up as a weird, wailing sound filled the air, TK and Cody found themselves blinking as one of the Neodevimons moving towards them began to glow, its body shifted around as it began to expand.

Rapidly regaining his true form, Metamormon faced down Shakkoumon, the visor covered head showing no emotion as the blob like body began to move forward. "Laser Translation!" Shooting out from the chest plate, a widespread beam rapidly moved from head to feet of Shakkoumon's body several times.

Laughing as he gunned the engine, Babel enjoyed the shocked expressions on the brats' faces as the massive digimon he had created began to glow and expand even more, soft green skin turning bright white and metallic. "That's it Metamormon, defeat them, then bring them to the base camp, I'm going after the others."

Speeding off, he slowed down just enough to give a glaring TK the finger before speeding up again. "Enjoy the fight brats, Metamormon is a master digimon, against him, none of you stands a chance."

Turning back to face the fake Shakkoumon, or Metamormon as he was called, TK began to narrow his eyes as his anger grew. "No, I won't let this thing stand in our way, Shakkoumon, you mustn't show any mercy, this fight is far to important for something like that."

Spreading out his arms, Shakkoumon powered up his eyes once more, the white glow gaining in strength as he felt the anger from TK adding strength to it, as well as the slight hint of doubt from Cody, acting as a weak counter to TK's anger. "TK, Cody. We won't let you down, Justice Beam!"

Scoring a direct hit, Metamormon in his Shakkoumon form were completely obscured by the reflection of the attack hitting his armor, but other then that, nothing really happed.

But unlike Babel, the mutant digimon didn't take any enjoyment from surprising the others as he were busy powering up an attack of his own. "Kachina bomb1" the small, almost saw blade like disk shooting out from the small hole near his abdomen, each of them rapidly shooting across the ground.

Hitting Shakkoumon directly and in a state of surprise, each explosion had the massive digimon moving as his armor were scorched, as well as chipped and even cracked a bit in places.

Groaning as he regained his battle stance, Shakkoumon fired off his own Kachina bomb attack, watching as each of them came closer to the other digimons, only to miss as Metamormon rapidly shifted form, turning into a much smaller Neodevimon that could easily dodged the spinning disks.

Shooting up into the air, power flowed into his hands as Metamormon focused his attention on the humans behind Shakkoumon, his mind already having come up with a nice battle plan to use. "Deep Sorrow!" The tell tale dark power shooting off towards TK and Cody, rather the massive digimon as he triggered his morphing power, drawing on the stored digimon forms in his systems.

Moving to protect his human partners, Shakkoumon didn't really see the new form the other digimon took, but he did feel and hear it as a rapid form came closer to him. "Nail Bone!" The tell tale attack from Skullsatamon ripping through his whole body in a split second, causing his body to freeze as it overrode his own commands.

Jumping back up into the air, Metamormon took on his own form again, the massive blob like body once again hovering above the digi destined and their digimons. "Transceirave!" Snapping his head downwards as he spoke, the dark glass on his visor glowing reddish green at first, before a beam shot downward, smashing into Shakkoumon at full force.

Knocked back over from the attack, his armor cracked loudly as bright, white light shot up around him, Shakkoumon let out a last groan as he split in two, Patamon and Armadillomon both falling from the sky with loud screams as the de digivolution ran its course.

Moving to each of their partners as they landed, TK and Cody barely had time to check on them before the felt the cold feeling from each of Metamormon's hands as he grabbed them.

* * *

Clearing the last part, Kari and Yolei found themselves standing in the one place they hadn't expected. It were where they had tried to go, but the spring Ogremon had mentioned were long gone, rather, a large muddy hole where in it's place, with large metal girders around it, and suspended from chains on them in the center, where not only the destiny stone, but Ken as well.

Turning her head back, Yolei snapped out her hand, her eyes fully locked on Silphymon hovering above them. "Silphymon cut him down." Her voice cutting through the clearing easily as she snapped one hand out to point at the bound boy.

Nodding as he began to advance, Silphymon suddenly froze as he snapped his head, his face showing a pure look of surprise as he ducked just in time to avoid several powerful bolts of light shooting through the space he had just occupied. "Who, who are you?"

Chuckling as he looked down from his vantage point on the destiny stone, a large, fuzzy wolf monster like digimon pulled back his right arm, the gauntlet covered hand still emitting smoke from the three gun like nozzles on top of its glove. "You're fast, I'll give you that, but it won't help you this time around." Ripping his left hand down over his leather west, he finished the sentence with a chuckle.

On the ground, Kari felt her eyes widen as the words were arrogantly spoken, her mind trying to deny it even as she saw both Yolei and Silphymon stiffen. "It can't be, you sound like him, but you can't be."

Next to her, Yolei lifted up her hand to her chest, feeling it shake as she felt her heart race a bit faster at the sight of the overly muscled chest and arms of the digimon above them. Her mind failing to find any way that this beast like digimon could sound just like. "Gennai."

Smirking as he took in the shocked expression on the faces of the digimon and just how open they had left themselves for an attack. "This is it, Rodeo Bullets!" Firing off the attack, he le totu a roar of joy as Silphymon, even with all of his speed, only managed to avoid two the light bullets, the third one hitting the right arm with a loud, cracking sound that the girls gasp and Silphymon scream as he fell to the ground. "It's over, Lord Babel will be pleased with this."

Struggling up on his feet, Silphymon spat out some grass as he turned to face the digimon above, his right arm hanging down uselessly at his side. "That hurt you bastard!" Glowing bright pink, Silphymon forced as much power a she could into a counter attack, the beast like digimon chuckling again. "Top gun!"

Shooting off from the ground as the glow intensified, Silphymon let out a gasp as the digimon simply jumped up into the air, left hand snapping out as he passed by, each finger gripping onto his skull tightly as he torn out of his attack move, and flung down to the ground again.

Finishing the attack he had started, the beast like digimon snapped out his right hand, bullets firing off right towards the digimon below, missing as he rolled to the side at the last second. "Eh, you're still able to move after that?"

Landing on the ground as he spoke, the beast like digimon looked back over his shoulder, eyes firmly locked on the destiny stone. "Oh, I see, it's because of that." Turning his attention back again, he lifted up both hands and began to laugh, eyes gazing down at the fused digimon before him. "Still, how long do you think you will last against a mega digimon of my level?"

Standing up, Silphymon forced his battered, broken body to move as power flowed into him, the strength of the positive energies within the destiny stone fueling him to continue fighting. "Long enough, Dual Sonic Laser!" Filing out his left arm, a pink colored image of his shot out, crossing the distance rapidly before impacting the wide-open beast like digimon.

Grunting as he was blinded by the pink light, The beast like digimon shook his head, one hand shooting out to grip Silphymon as the fused digimon flew in to try a close up attack, "Nice one birdie." Clenching with his left hand, he enjoyed the gasp of pain. "And now, to end it."

Lifting up his right hand, he smirked as it got closer and closer. "Say goodbye."

"Goodbye!" Turning his head around at the new voice, the beast digimon only had time to see the wooden plank before it hit him right on the snout, A very small, but still hurtful place as his sudden step back revealed, his hand opening up and freeing Silphymon. "Brat."

Smirking as he stepped fully into the area, Davis grinned as he looked up at the digimon. "Heh, took me a while to get here, but I still made it in time."

On the ground, Silphymon looked and grinned, it was now or never, the digimon was busy with Davis, and had left himself wide open for an attack.

Powering up one last strike, Silphymon's ears twitched a bit as the sound of an engine reached him, the sheer, unexpected presence of it causing him to lower his guard at the wrong time, and the wrong place as he found out less then a second later.

Letting out a yell as the metal grill and hood of a jeep plowed into him, Silphymon felt his body get knocked back over, glass cracking under him as he rebounded off a windshield screen before flying briefly out of control, then it ended as the wet grass around the dried up spring met his face.

Glancing back over his shoulder, Babel chuckled as he watched the birdman like digimon struggling to get up, his body finally giving up as it glowed and separated into Gatomon and Hawkmon. "Heh, sorry to be such a road hog, but I really want those digi mentals, and therefore, can't waste anymore time on this."

Facing back towards Kari and Yolei, he chuckled as he pushed open the jeep door. "Now ladies, if you will be so kind, I think you both have something that I want." Snapping his head back to Davis, he chuckled as he held out one hand. "And don't even try it, no one wants a hero, least of all, when I hold the very lives of your friends, in the hands of my newest creation, Metamormon."

Glancing over at the beast like digimon, he chuckled as he held out a hand towards him as well. "And I don't believe you have been introduced to my latest accusation, Callismon! Although I'm sure you have already recognized as the fool Gennai from his voice."

Turning his attention back to them, he chuckled as he snapped his fingers, four Bakemons floating out from the backside of the destiny stone, the device holding the digi mentals of Hope, Knowledge and Reliability held up by them. "Introductions aside boys and girls. I think it's time we got down to business, namely, your digimentals of Courage, Friendship, Love, sincerity and Light."

Chuckling as the device landed before him, he tapped one finger at the empty spots. "Now, if you don't mind, hand them over, and I'll let you have back Ken as well." His eyes narrowing, he suppressed the urge to hurl out a massive insult about the young boy. "The fool has no value to me anyway, he rejected the truth and denied his part in my destiny."

Letting out a growl as he edged closer, Davis looked around the area quickly, hoping that Paildramon would come charging in to save the day after all.

Instead, he was met with silence as more Bakemons arose from there hiding places, laughter and giggles breaking out as they began to float closer. "You promise to let Ken go?"

Looking down, Babel stared right into the rock eyes of Davis as the younger boy glared back at him. "Hmm, you got a high level of courage to speak that way to me boy." Unclenching and then re-clenching his grip on the side of the jeep, he finally let out a small back of laughter. "Amusing, so much like me in my younger days, but, that is the deal boy, give me all your digi mentals, and Kenny boy there is free to go."

Pulling out his D-terminal, Davis glanced over at Kari and Yolei. "I'm sorry, but there's no other choice." Holding out the small device, two beams of light shot out from it, moving around the air briefly before landing in his free hand. "Here, the digi mentals of courage and friendship."

Gazing as the metallic digi eggs with a pure look of greed, Babel quickly motioned for his Bakemons to come closer. "Good, good, now plant them on the device." Moving his attention over to Kari and Yolei, he narrowed his eyes at them. "What, if you two don't hand over your digi mentals, I'll have Ken destroyed along with your digimons."

Planting both of her hands on her hips, Kari glared right back at Babel with venom in her eyes. "Yeah, but what about TK, Patamon, Cody and Armadillomon." Nodding at the still towering above them Metamormon, she returned her gaze to the purple haired man. "Let them go now, or the deal is off."

Right next to her, Yolei held out her own D-terminal. "What she said, if not, I toss this one away, and none one will ever be able to get the Digi mentals back."

Feeling the anger and hate emerge at their demands, Babel had to use every ounce of his willpower to remain calm, his eyes letting out a few twitches as he took a deep breath. "Fine, but no tricks, or you all dies right here." Snapping his fingers, he let a cold smirk form as the sound of four bodies getting dropped where heard. "See, they're free, now give me the digi mentals."

Not replying to the comment, or the demand, Kari pulled out her D-terminal, the digi mental of light showing up rapidly as she called it out. "Here." Planting it on the device along with Davis's digi mentals of courage and friendship, she turned her attention to Yolei. "Your turn, but be careful."

Staring sadly down at her digi mentals as they fit into the empty spaces on the device, Yolei glanced up at Babel as he stepped closer, gazing at each digi mental. "What are you going to do with them anyway?"

Grinning darkly as he walked over to the jeep, device getting carried along by the Bakemons, he grabbed the door and looked over his shoulder as he watched each kid in turn. "I'm sure the traitor Yagami told you about my virus, well, let's just say that even if the barrier is gone, I'll need some power to not only open a gate to the center of this world, but also to keep it open."

Nodding more to himself then to anyone else, he watched as all the digi mentals were in the proper places. "Good, and as I promised, Ken is free to go." Pulling open the door to his jeep, he chuckled as he slid into the driver's seat, one last dark look from him reaching the kids. "Free to die that is, Metamormon, Gennai, crush them!"

Hitting the speeder, he sent his jeep flying forward, a dust cloud rising up form behind as he began to pick up speed. It was finally time to finalize the last part of his great plan. "Later digi brats."

Speeding over a small bump in the road, a dark look filled his face as a massive shape passed by overhead, Paildramon's hip guns already charging up to fire at his last two worthy servants. "Heh, so what, they still won't win this, victory is mine at last."

* * *

"I'm picking up the signal of the other digi destined, they're nearby." Turning to face Mimi, Tai stared at her, as she was busy looking over Jun who had been placed careful on the ground. "She okay over there?"

Rising her head, Mimi shrugged as she pushed herself up from the ground. "I'm not really sure, Joe's the one with the urge to become a doctor, not me." Turning her attention over to Blackwargreymon and Wargreymon, she shook her head as she found each of them glaring at the other. "Tai, You and Wargreymon should go to the others."

Snapping his attention back to the pink loving girl. "What, why?" Gazing down at Jun, he opened his mouth to add some comment about her evilness when he felt the girl he, cared for, touch his arm. "Meems, I, I don't know if I should leave you here with her. You heard Jun back there, she's not fully free of the virus yet."

Smiling from both the new nickname he had given her, and the concern in his voice, Mimi let out a soft giggle as she stood up. "I'll be fine, I have Lillymon here with me, and I'm sure Blackwargreymon won't try and capture me." Gazing down at Jun as she finished talking, she ran a mildly shaking hand through her hair. "But, I do admit she scares me a little, but I have to do this, the others need your help."

Moving back to sit next to Jun, Mimi held a hand out to the messy haired girl's forehead. "She reminds me of you, you needed the help of others to find the light and goodness inside to free yourself of the virus." Smile turning a bit sad, she looked back over her shoulder. "Jun needs the same, but I also think it would help if the main source of her anger isn't here, and besides, I know you want to go and help Kari and the others."

Letting out a sigh, as he knew he was beaten on that subject, Tai finally shook his head as he walked forward, his hand grabbing his D3. "You're unbelievable, you know that." Kneeling down next to her, he chuckled as he gazed at her. "I'll go, but promise me to be careful around her, okay."

Opening her mouth to reply, Mimi froze as she felt Tai plant a small, soft kiss on her cheek, the simple thing making her stomach do a flip-flop. Forcing her heart to slow down, and the redness in her cheeks to fade, she grinned as she faced Tai head on. "I will, but only if you promise to make it back in once piece."

Moving forward, she planted a kiss on the messy haired boy's mouth, planting both her hands on his shoulders as she felt him tense up a bit from shock. "Now, go get him, Taichi."

From her place, Lillymon simply narrowed her eyes as she watched the display. One part of her happy for Mimi, another put off by the fact that she had chosen the messy haired boy, and the final one admitting that maybe, maybe that Yagami kid wasn't such a bad choice after all.

But she would still need to inform him just what would happen if he tried to hurt her again.

"Cheer up Lillymon." Came the gruff comment from Wargreymon as he turned to leave with Tai. "It's not the end of the world, besides, I can tell you the best way to prank him if you give him a chance."

Simply raising one eyebrow, Lillymon watched the dino man like digimon. "Oh, I was going to give him a chance, but that prank deal sounds too good to give up on, I still need to get back for the jail cell."

Replying to her statement with a shrug, Wargreymon let out a small grunt as he reached down to pick up Tai. "Okay, lead the way Tai."

Nodding, Tai cast a quick look back at them. "Hey, take care okay, and when she wakes up, tell her I said hi." Turning his head back again, Tai held out his left arm, pointing in the correct direction. "Okay, it that way, about 20 minutes time if we fly."

Taking off at the comment, Wargreymon began to pick up speed, the rather well earned break he had just taken, having given him a much needed boost of energy. "Let's just hope we don't show up too late."

Smirking at the words from his fused digimon partners, Tai shook his head as he kept his eyes on the digivice. "Let's just hope we get in time to help kick Babel's butt."

* * *

Moving as fast as they could to avoid getting hit by an attack, Kari and Yolei both let out a cry of fear as a massive, bone like staff dug a small hole into the ground right between them.

Pulling the staff back up. Metamormon, in the shape of Skullsatamon looked after each girl, as he debated which one to strike out at next.

Further away, Gennai, in the massive Callismon body were having the time of his life as he were busy taking random shots after a hastily running Davis, the messy haired boy diving in between two metal girders in time to avoid getting hit.

Stopping right outside the mass of girders, Gennai growled as he could clearly see Davis hiding behind the metal construct, but where unable to get a clear firing angle. "Brat, come on out!"

Doing his worst in suppressing a laugh, Davis did manage to overcome the urge to flip off the digimon who had once been an allied. "Come on Gennai, I'm not that stupid you know." Turning his head to gaze up at Ken, Davis did his best to come up with a way to get Ken out of danger.

Facing back to the front, Davis ducked around it as Gennai took the small chance to try and catch him. "Come on Gennai, even Armadillomon is faster then you."

The words, while brave didn't do much in showing him just how much trouble they were in, the sudden terrified cry from Yolei having him nearly turn and run to her help, the only thing stopping him being a rapid firing of bullets that whizzed over his head as he turned. "Damn it!"

Reaching the metal girders on the other side, Kari snapped out one hand and pulled Yolei to safety, or a small measure of safety as both of them felt the sound of Metamormon smashing his staff right into the metal girder at full power. "This isn't working, we need a plan, or stronger digimons."

Huffing as she moving avoid a probing hand from Metamormon, Yolei didn't waste anytime as she moved to get more distance between herself and the evil digimon. "Where you brother anyway, doesn't he have a mega level digimon or what?"

"Well." Came the somewhat unsure of reply from Kari as she had to struggle to avoid getting hit by the same hand as Yolei, her head turning to stare at Gatomon laying unconscious in the dirt. "At least they trying to get of us first rather then those who are out cold."

Letting out a snort Yolei grabbed Kari's arm and began running around the small, dried up spring hole. "Is it any wonder, they aren't going to run away, but we could." Passing Davis as they reached roughly the center of the run, Yolei stopped running as she spun to stare at Davis. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

Looking back at them, Davis did his best to appear unafraid, his eyes moving past them to the rapidly approaching Gennai who were already taking aim at them. "Never mind that, Get down!"

Having yelled out the thing same, Kari wasted no time in acting as she had spotted Metamormon still looking like Skullsatamon approaching them, the head of his staff already glowing as he flung it forward.

Impacting the ground, Yolei let out a scream as she felt the hot blast of air pass by overhead, the sound of three rapid gunshots filling the air as well.

Gennai, having fired his attack just one fraction of a second too later, could only stare as each of his bullets impacted Metamormon who screamed, as he was knocked back, losing his form from the pain. Then his own body was wrapped in pain as the mutant digimons attack hit him dead on.

Shrugging off the pain as fast as he could, the human digimon turned into an evil digimon, reached out for the nearest chosen child, his massive paw closing down on Yolei's leg. "Got you girl, now, die!"

"Desperado Blaster!"

Releasing the leg as a flash of pain ripped through him, Gennai spun around as he saw the rest of the attack hit a recovered Metamormon as well, each bullet springing off the machine like part of the mutant digimons chest. "That, actually hurt me a little, Rodeo Bullet!" Firing off a rapid series of bullets at the newly Arrived Paildramon, Gennai could see the girl he had grabbed moving away. "Stop right there girl."

Snapping his head back as he too focused on Paildramon, Metamormon felt power flow through his as he focused his full attention on the Paildramon. "Transceirave!" Power erupting from him, Metamormon smiled as the attack flowed through the air.

Laughing as he managed to avoid both attacks, both bullets and Metamormon's attack. Paildramon watched as the Neodevimon that had followed him, took each attack head on, three large bullets holes forming on the chest right before the power attack hit home, the synthetic digimon deleting instantly.

Spinning around to attack again, the dragon like man didn't get a chance as Gennai jumped him, dragging him down as he impacted his body. "Get, off, me!"

Chuckling coldly as he lifted up his right hand, all three gun barrels still smoking, Gennai chuckled as he felt Paildramon impacting the construction holding up the Destiny Stone. "Now, Die!"

"No!" Turning around at the word, Gennai stared as the messy haired boy came flying through the air, a piece of rock in his hands as he drew closer. "Let them go!"

Lashing out with his left hand, Gennai balanced himself on Paildramon with his legs only, his hand grabbing Davis as he came close enough. "Moron, you can die right after your pet digimon." Slamming Davis against the rock, the massive digimon didn't expect a loud wailing sound to fill the air, not to see a column of light erupt from the destiny stone. "What the?"

Looking down, he cursed as he spotted that boy Ken, having been moving from the metal grinders buckling under their added weight, his D3 pressed tightly against the destiny stone, just like the messy haired boy's. "No."

Rocking his head back as his skin felt like it had been lit afire from the light. Gennai dropped both his grip on Davis, and Paildramon as he began to fall down, his head erupting with the most powerful headache. "You, this." Turning around, he noticed Metamormon shifting back into his prime appearance, the massive body just staring straight ahead at them.

Then it happened, like a flood rushing fourth after the dam holding it broke apart, the memories blocked out by Babel treatment of him, came back. An endlessly rush of memory, after memory of painful treatments. Forming the guardians, serving under Azulongmon, fighting the first darkness, then Babel rise.

The period after his banishment, the rise of the Dark Masters, loss of the four soverns and the final deletion of his fellow guardians. The arrival of the second team of digi destined, the war that lasted over 80 years, the peaceful period of time, then, the return of Babel, the Digimon Emperor, other evil digimons, and the four temples.

The virus, the virus he had studied, which he had been infected by. His body burning as data of a Grizzmon was forced into him, Babel's laughter as he faded away to be replaced by the Gennai utterly loyal to Babel.

As each memory fell into place, Gennai felt along with the return of himself, a growing sense of anger, a level of which he had hadn't felt since the day Piedmon invaded the guardians laboratory, deleting all of his friends, and stealing the tags from them.

Snapping his head around, Gennai lifted up his arm, aiming the gun barrels right towards the machine of Metamormon's chest. "Rodeo Bullet!"

Letting out a scream of anger and surprise, Metamormon floated backwards as his chest device erupted in a shower of sparks, his main ability now lost as he could no longer scan other digimons, nor change into them.

But overpowering this, were the massive dragon like creature forming above the destiny stone, a colorful decorated mask with four eyeholes focusing on the group below them. "Greetings Digi Destined, I am Azulongmon, Sovern of the Eastern part of the digital world."

And even inside his one-track mind, Metamormon could figure out, that things were not going to be pleasant anymore, as the dragon digimon focused on him.

TBC: A Darkening Horizon.

AN: Well, another chapter finished, and with my usual ability to completely avoid having the content live up to what the title said. A strange thing indeed, must be something mental with me. Anyway, head way is being made, the last chapter with Babel as the head villain is coming up, then it's everyone's favorite vampire digimon who is up for the role of villain.


	26. Part XXVI

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Summery: AU, very AU and dark, with mentioning of torture, violence and blood drinking.

* * *

Spawn of the vampire  
A Darkening Horizon

* * *

-

Recap time:

Last time, the digi destined finally faced Babel face to face, as the mad man broke his pact with Deamon and Skullsatamon, the latter dying from the attacks of Metamormon and Gennai, now revealed as the digimon Callismon. However, before he died, Skullsatamon succeed in freeing Deamon from the Dark Ocean, the dark area digimon leaving with the intent of obtaining revenge against Babel.

Babel, on the other hand, saw his long planning, various setbacks and delays finally overcome as he gained every single digi mental, proclaiming that the end of the digital world had come at last.

Blackwargreymon and Jun, having gone up one on one with Tai and Wargreymon in an aerial duel, were somewhat defeated and through a truce with Blackwargreymnon brought to safety on File Island. Mimi, sensing Tai's need to find Kari and help fight against Babel, agreed to look over the still unconscious Jun.

At the last destiny stone, Azulongmon were freed in the last second, as the battle were turning out for the worst, his presence enough to stop all combat as Gennai's mind were restored to normal.

* * *

"You, your very presence." Came the lightly distorted voice as the massive dragon digimon floated closer to the ground, dark clouds filling the air above him with only a few rays of sun light filtering through. "Your presence, speaks of the one we banished, for his attempts at destroying everything we cared about."

Floating backwards, Metamormon let out a groan of frustration as he failed to shift form, his mind screaming as he was stuck in a slow, unresponsive body that wouldn't stand a chance against the attack digimon damaged as he was.

Below, Paildramon grunted as he rather rudely showed Gennai of his stomach, his weapons snapping out as he took flight again. "Desperado Blaster!" Several rounds of light shooting out to impact across Metamormon's body, each bullet striking true as the massive mega digimon struggled to avoid getting his precious machine parts further damaged.

Aborting the machine guns, Paildramon instead took of flying, his wrist bands glowing as two stingers shot out from their compartments on top of each wristband. "This is it, Sting Strike!" Ripping each stinger across Metamormon's already heavily damage stomach scanner, he backed off as a massive shower of sparks shot out from it. "Whoa!"

Screaming in utter pain and anguish, Metamormon didn't have any choice but to hope for a quick end to it as pain wrecked his whole body as his precious digimon scanner blew out, the shock of its loss ripping through his flesh as he collapsed onto the ground.

Watching it from above, Azulongmon slowly turned his head to focus on Gennai, the human digimon transformed into Callismon having already gotten back up and moved into a kneeling stance. "Gennai, I sense your mind and power, yet, you too bear the presence of Osamu's madness."

The only to grasp the meaning of those words, Davis looked up as bits of previous conversations with Ken flooded back to him, the one to have struck him most, were the only time Ken had ever spoken of his brother. "Wait, back up, you can't mean that we're fighting against Ken family?"

Behind him, he could hear the other digi destined gasp as they began to either awake and see the new digimon above then, or just picking up on what he had just said.

As for Azulongmon, the dragon digimon turned to face Davis, his eyes adapting a lightly amused expression as he focused on the young, messy haired boy completely. "Ah yes, you must be Davis, the one we turned to in the past, and once again now, hoping that you along with your new friends will be able to rid our world of the last remnants of Apocalymon's darkness."

Shivering at the mentioning of that evil digimon, TK, Kari and Davis had to take a deep breath to refocus on the matter at hand.

Kari, being the first one of them to speak as she went back over the dragon digimons story, her memory of the old adventures rushing through her mind again. "Wait, remnants of darkness?" Her question gaining the attention from everyone as they too felt a chill at the prospect of facing even more evil digimons. "You mean we might have to fight against digimons again?"

After what felt like an eternity, Azulongmon let out a deep sigh as he gestured to Gennai, the transformed human digimon stepping forward. "As Gennai once told the original digi destined, there were a team before them who faced Apocalymon when after he first maneged to manifest in this world."

The battle was long and hard, corruption and darkness flood the digital world, and time and space were twisted out of alignment in that age by Apocalymon's sheer presence.

Five digimons came to us, and with out help and that of Gennai's order, five human children were summoned to save our world from the darkness. One of who were Osamu, Ken's older brother.

For a long period of time, they fought against Apocalymon and his agents of darkness, growing in strength, and character with each confrontation.

Finally, they gained Apocalymon's attention as one of his strongest servants, Minotarumon, was defeated.

What happened next is unknown to us, but the battle lasted for a whole day, Apocalymon doing his best to defeat the human and the five digimons, but in the end, he failed.

Gazing down at the ground, Gennai cleared his throat, as he didn't dare to face the digi destined. "After the battle, we were faced with a problem we hadn't truly thought of, one of the summoned children had died." Clenching up his large digimon hands, Gennai felt a single tear run down his cheek. "I had, I had seen at the time of summoning the close relationship between Osamu and Ken, and, no matter what, I didn't want to break it up."

"You cloned him right?" Davis muttered out as he gazed at Gennai.

Still keeping his head lowered, Gennai found himself unable to respond at first, and then he finally pulled himself together enough to continue. "Yes, but, I would say it was more like copied him, then cloning."

Azulongmon interrupted Gennai before he caused more questions. "We had, as it was the first time ever for humans and digimons to work together, we had made an extensive collection on all data related to it, both the human and digimon data had been copied and saved for research, and it was through that data the clone was made."

Checking to see if anything had gone wrong at first, we were able to calm ourselves as nothing seemed out of the ordinary about our clone, and so we sent him to Earth to take Osamu's place.

At the same time, we had turned to figuring out the best way to combat the darkness left over from Apocalymon's invasion, the dark power corrupting all digimons that encountered it, turning them into vicious monsters that sought only control and power.

In the midst of studying the data on human and digimon partnerships, Osamu returned. His bodies were badly hurt, and his mind lightly damaged, as all he could remember were the start of the fight with Apocalymon, but none of the time after it.

But even with his injuries, he wasn't slowed down, it was as if he didn't even know he had them, let alone felt them.

Furthermore, he was showing a more aggressive attitude as well. His demands to return to earth at once making us more then worried as the clone had already adapted perfectly into his life, and a sudden removal and replacement of it would be noticed fairly quickly.

Struggling with this new problem, some of us in favor of simply returning him regardless of what the humans would think of it, we also found ourselves worrying of the possibility of the humans learning of the digital world's existence through such and incident.

We also couldn't just dispose of the clone like common trash, he had gained a mind and heart, and were living as a full human with that carried with it.

And so, we suggested to Osamu the one thing he didn't want, for while we had delayed his return home with our meetings and discussions on what to do, he had learned what we had done by using our own computers to hack our main server. And from it, he had leant of our clone, our attempt at replacing him.

He was furious, and with the suggestion that he be merged with the clone, he finally had enough of us, the digital world and everything else. He renounced his titled as a digi destined and a chosen child.

After he had left, we didn't hear anything from him for over several years, until we heard that a human child had invaded File Island with a dark digimon called, Icedevimon. Together they had succeeded in turning the whole Island into a frozen wasteland, the remaining digimon forced into slavery.

But what really worried us, were the information about the virus. From the Intel we had received, he had begun the creation of something that would do what Apocalymon had failed to do, namely corrupt the whole world.

To stop him, we called on yet more human children, despite the open split in our group, one human child had become our greatest danger and was now going to destroy everything, if we called on more children we might end up creating even more Babel's to fight against.

But despite our fears of creating more human monsters like Babel, Taichi and Jun won, and unlike Osamu, they didn't seek revenge against us for calling on them out of the blue. And this alone, was enough to convince everyone to restart the research into human and digimon bonds.

But things didn't end there, after Babel's capture, we tried him, and sent him back to earth as he wished for so long ago, hoping that there, he wouldn't pose a threat to us anymore, but we hadn't countered on Icedevimon, doing the battle he had evolved into a Bluemeramon, but had still lost, and in anger over his partner punishment, he somehow came back, and fusing with the data of Apocalymon's servant Minotarumon, he became Piedmon.

And along with three other mega digimons, he formed the group of digimon known as the Dark Masters, and gained revenged for what we had done by sealing up me, Baihumon, Zhuqiaomon and Xuanwumon.

But after that, they learned that we had completed our research, and were on the verge of creation more digi destined to combat them and other dark digimons, for it was in humans that we knew salvation laid. But Pied furious, decided to finish what he started, and so he destroyed the order of the guardians, stole the eight crests and digi tags.

In return for Devimon hiding the tags while he recovered, Piedmon promised him control of File Island, meanwhile, Myotismon, the leader of his nightmare soldiers, scattered the seven crests across Server, but when he came to the crest of light, he was horrified, for like us, he had read the old prophecies and knew that the holder of that crest were to be the beginning of his downfall and in seeing it, he saw his own downfall.

As you know, the eight digi destined defeated the Dark Masters, Myotismon and other dark digimons, but they didn't free us from our prison, for Piedmon, to ensure it wouldn't happen, erased Gennai's memory of us with a dark spell, and so, the eight chosen didn't find us.

But with Apocalymon's defeat, out prison began to crumble, and we could feel how we were becoming unsealed, until Ken arrived, and with his control tower, he sealed away our powers and us again. But out brief moment of near freedom had been enough, we had felt the virus and the darkness of Babel in the digital world.

But I could only manage to tell Gennai and his apprentice of the faint traces of evil, not what to do about it. Before we had fully prepared, they began to loot the four temples, which acted as a seal on Babel's virus, lowering the barrier keeping out both Babel, and the virus trapped.

As you and your friends battled Ken, Gennai began work on a way to free the digital world from the virus, but while you have come along way, Babel now had what he needs to open the door into the center of the digital world, and free the virus once and for all.

Turning to face Azulongmon as the dragon digimon finish the tale, Gennai once more slid into a bow. "Azulongmon, sovern of the east, I, Gennai hereby resign from the order of the guardians, I leave my tasks in the hands of my replacement, the human girl Catherine. As the one who came up with the idea to clone Osamu, it is I who must face him and suffer for my crime."

Standing up before anyone could answer, let along say anything, Gennai was off, his digimon form carrying him towards the location of Babel, as his mind went over the thought of the coming encounter. If what he knew were right, he would only have once chance at delaying the danger long enough for the digi destined to have recovered enough to win the final battle.

Back at the destiny stone, Azulongmon sighed once more as deep regret flowed through him. "So much has been done by us, our crime was one of desperation and fear, yet it doesn't make it any light to carry." Extending one massive hand downwards, he smiled down at the digi destined. "For all it is worth, I hope you won't judge us to harshly for what we did."

Still to stunned by the story to respond, the group of digi destined could barely nod as one of the seven spheres around Azulongmon floated down into his hand.

Gazing at it, the massive dragon digimon smiled softly as light began to glow from it. "With one digi core missing, my power is weakened, yet, I will still give you the boost you need to win against the evils you will be facing from now on."

As light erupted across the clearing, Kari and Davis watched as six streams of bluish white light shot down towards each of them, two hitting them, while the other four entered into the other digi destined. "Thank you, Azulongmon." Came the reply from Kari as she looked up at him. "I just hope, we can live up to what you expect from us."

Smiling down at her, Azulongmon's tail curled down from the sky, wrapping around his destiny stone gently as he smiled at her. "I'm sure you all will, but still, be careful, one of these evils are more darker then the ones you have faced before, and there still some from your pasts will be returning as well. Now, I must relocated my destiny stone, and cleanse those of Zhuqiaomon and Xuanwumon, to restore the northern and southern lands to normal."

Eyes narrowing, he took in the sight of each child. "I am sorrow that I must leave like this, but if my destiny stone is corrupted, nothing will be able to stop the tide of darkness, please, do your best to stop Babel."

Watching as Azulongmon took off, Davis clenched up one hand, his mind still in a bit of shock and sadness from what he had just heard from the dragon digimon. "Kari, you guys, You should return home, Ken needs help, and, he needs rest, far more then he can get here."

Nodding in agreement, Kari shuddered a bit as she found herself wondering what evil from the past they would be facing in the future. "I'll e-mail Tai and Mimi, they can meet us back home, after everything they been through, I don't think they will be much help either."

Opening her D-terminal, she nearly dropped it as she saw a mail waiting for her, the title of it having her gasp even before she read the short message. "Davis, it's Jun, they battled her, she with Mimi now, and Tai's coming here!"

Looking up, Davis nearly dropped Ken down from where he had been picking him up, a light gasp coming from his lips as he found himself torn between staying to fight, or go see his sister.

* * *

Kicking open the door into the temple, Babel wasted no time in pushing his way past the remaining Bakemon servants he had left, the digi mentals carried in behind him as he stopped. "I trust you recovered my digivice?" His voice cutting through the room as he gazed around at the remains of his once mighty army, now reduced just five Bakemons and himself. "Well, hand it over now."

Moving forward, one Bakemon dropped the device into the human's hand as he began to chuckle. "Good, now, to the final phase, place the device in the center of the room, and prepare for my ultimate victory." Holding out the device, the four digi cores absorbed into it started to glow as he began to laugh.

Above him, hidden in the shadows of the room, Deamon stared down at the scene with an emotionless stare, hands curled up into fist as he listened to the insane ramblings of the human. "Soon fool, soon." Moving his attention over onto the digi mentals. "What is it you're planning on doing human, this virus of yours, it doesn't feel like one, more like, the darkness itself."

Continuing his observation, Deamon slowly began to count down until it was time for him to reveal himself, to take over the whole show and reap all the rewards. "And not a moment to soon, I sense one of my greatest enemies to date have returned as well."

Head turned away as he spoke lowly, Deamon could almost see the sovern dragon digimon through the walls of the temple. At the very least, he could feel the power it radiate clearly, and far off in the distance, a power almost like it, but different at the same time. "Things, are progressing out of my control, whatever it is your doing human, it better provide me with the advantage I need to win the coming war."

On the ground, Babel held out the homemade digivice as four glowing lights shot out from it, each one doing a quick circle around the digi mentals before getting drawn into it. "And now, for the final stage, the opening of the gate."

* * *

Groaning as light began to assault her eyes, Jun turned around, or tried to before she felt the ground beneath her, and the gentle hand rubbing her forehead. "What in blazes!" Sitting up, she stopped moving as dizziness took over for a few seconds, her stomach twisting around as it tried to decided on keeping down it's contents of spilling it out.

As her stomach won over the nausea, the messy haired girl took in several deep breaths of air to calm her body down further before she moved again.

Behind her, she could make out the presence of Blackwargreymon, the dark toned digimon not saying anything to show he was there, but still looming up enough to let her feel his presence.

And next to her, were that pink loving girl Yagami were so fond off, her digimon partner standing guard right behind her, the cold look making her growl. "So, where's is he? Did the great Yagami run off and leave you here?"

Not showing much offense at the comment, Mimi stood up slowly before she sighed. "Well, if you must know, he left to fight Babel." Her voice, while uncaring, did show a bit of fear at the mentioning of Babel. "And thanks to you, he may already have gotten what he wanted."

"Why do you hate him anyway?" Came the question from Lillymon, the pixy type digimon pushing her way forward to gaze down at the messy haired girl. "Weren't you on the same side once?"

Letting out a small bark of laughter as she stood up, Jun began to brush off the dirt from her clothes, her eyes narrowing as she stared at Blackwargreymon. "Why are you here anyway? Shouldn't you have left by now to find the rest of the digi destined? You know, to get your answers and all that."

Pushing off from where he had been leaning against a tree, Blackwargreymon ignored the biting sneer in the girls voice as he walked closer. "My answers, still matter to me girl." Walking up close to her as he talked, he stopped right into front of her. "However, I have also noticed that while I've been searching, the digi destined have been fighting this human called Babel, the one who have caused so much destruction."

Lifting up one hand, he gazed down at the gauntlet covering it. "More importantly, I have learned that if Babel gets his way, I will die, without learning the answers I seek"

Still feeling a bit of anger from her newest defeat, Jun couldn't stop herself from biting out the following question, her eyes narrowed as she spat out each word. "And what answer is this, how to be a bigger jerk?"

Eyes blazing with anger at that comment, Blackwargreymon reached down and lifted the messy haired girl clear off the ground, his golden eyes glaring right into her frighten ones as they came face to face. "No, Jun, my questions is, and has always been, why am I different? What is my purpose, and why do I feel compelled to protect you, despite your comments, why?"

Nearly shaking her as the last outburst, Blackwargreymon glanced up and stared down at Mimi and Lillymon. "Is it, because I have a heart? But if so, how, spire digimons don't have any hearts, we're just animated spires merged to look like digimons."

"You do have a heart?" Came the comment from Mimi as she cast a look up at the towering digimon. "You must have one, I'm sure of it, after all, without a heart, you can't have feelings, any doubts, any questions."

Nodding in agreement, Lillymon floated up and freed Jun from the hand holding her. "Even I, a none spire digimon feels insecure at times, I too question what I do, and if it is the right way."

Settling down, Blackwargreymon nodded slowly as he faced Jun. "I am sorry, about my outburst." The apology catching them all off guard, as they had never expected the silent control spire digimon to respond to them. "But, my questions, plague me, hound me, I seek answers but no one had provide anyone."

Staring at both Jun and Blackwargreymon, Mimi felt her heart twitch as she could clearly see the confusion and depression in one of them, and the growing self loathing and disgust in the other. "You can come with us, help us stop Babel, he's one of those who made you, he would have answers."

Turning to face Jun, Mimi reached out and grabbed her hand, staring right into those brown orbs as she kept it from being pulled free. "Please join us." Her voice as friendly as possible, she stared up at Jun. "It's not to late for you, you can still come back, become one of us, a digi destined."

Flickering between anger and doubt, Jun pulled on the hand holding onto hers, her mouth opening and closing as she fought with herself. She hated her, she hated him, but, she hated this even more, running around, homeless, friendless, all of the things Babel had promised her had been lies, she'd been used, lied too, stepped on.

Pulling her hand lose, she turned her back on them, keeping her eyes distant and unfocused as she fought down the myriad of feelings running through her. "I, I don't, I don't"

Never finishing her sentence, she stared off into the distance as a loud rumble reached them, a small earthquake erupting beneath her as the distant top of Mount destiny erupted into a shower of rock and darkness, the whole thing looking very much like a volcano going off.

* * *

Looking up from where Ken lay, Davis gazed at the expanding cloud of darkness as it began to cover the sky. "TK, Kari, Yolei and Cody." Pulling his goggled down over his eyes a hot wind began to buff at him, Davis whole body took on an air of determination. "Get Ken out of here, and you as well, your digimons are still to weak to fight."

Stepping forward, he gazed up at Paildramon, the dragon man like digimon nodding back at him as he felt new power well up with in him, the power of Azulongmon.

"Paildramon digivolves!" Light erupting around him as a dragon snake like body flew out of the sky, Paildramon began to spin around as the dragon snake coiled up around him, fusing with his body as it began to expand into a much more massive, four legged, blue white dragon like body.

His gauntlets expanding as two small spikes and one massive one grew out of them, along with his mask growing to fit the much bigger face, the eye visor fading away completely as three metal spikes much like horns grew out the back of it, while one grew out over his nose, most changing were the fact his fours wings grew together into one, large red colored pair with a large cannon emerging between the shoulder and wings joints. "To ImperialDramon!"

Watching his and Ken's much bigger partner, he gave a firm smile of determination. "Your ready pal?" His voice calm as he spoke, he focused on the erupting darkness. "Then let's go to war!"

* * *

Flying across the sky, Tai and Wargreymon had changed their course to take them right into the area covered by the darkness filling up the sky. "This is guys, whatever Babel's been planning for, this is the culmination of it, what he's been striving for all along."

Below him, Wargreymon kept his eyes locked on the target as well, his face as firm as a stone, different thoughts rushing through the fused minds as they approached. "Tai, no matter what happens, I want you to know that you are the best partner a digimon could wish for."

Nodding back at first, Tai lowered his attention down to his fused digimon partners. "And so are you two, you are the very best partners anyone could ever wish for."

* * *

Laughing insanely as all was ready at last, Babel slid the homemade digivice into place at the center of it, his fingers then began flying across the hooked up computers keyboard as he gazed at each digi mental with a highly insane smirk. "Mine, at long last." Pressing down firmly on the enter button, he let out a new round of laughter as a thick humming started up. "Its all mine!"

Ripping up into the air from each digi mental, colored streams of light merged together, forming a multi colored ring that swirled around lazily, as if it was unsure of why it had been created.

Down below, in the center of the digi mentals, the home made digivice began to glow as each of the four capture digi cores rose up, the power of the four soverns sealed away within them glowing brighter and brighter as they rose up into place, fitting into the ring as keys in a door lock.

Watching it all happen, Babel chuckled darkly as the within the ring began to flicker, the multicolored pooling in as gold colored specks of metal formed along the edges. "Yes, the gate, at long last, the gate will open." Lifting up both hands as the floor began to shake and buckle, he grinned as the sound of feet hitting metal reached him. "You're too late again Gennai, far to late to stop me!"

"He may be, but I am not." Deamon's voice cutting through the air with the full level of his evil as he stepped out from his vantage point, his wings spread out to give him a far more demonic appearance. "And this time human, there will be no bargaining among us."

Face breaking up into a mask of pure insanity and hate, Babel gazed up at the dark digimon, his eyes narrowed to the point of nearly closing. "So, Skullsatamon did free you after all, I had hoped you wouldn't have, but then again, who am I to ignore a prime chance when I see it."

As the last word fell from his lips, it came almost as if it had heard him command it to, streams of liquid darkness reaching out from the parting gate seal to embrace the digital world, two glowing points of pale blue light forming in the center of the biggest stream, a vicious glow forming around its eyes as it gazed down at its creator and the dark digimon across from him.

Flicking out one hand, he laughed as several tendrils of the virus shot out, each one either blocking him from harm, or moving to engage the dark digimon in battle. "You can become part of it as well, as everything will."

Not lowering himself to answer this blatant threat, Deamon gazed at the virus, the tendrils moving towards him spreading out to engulf his body. "I see, so, it's really just a simple ploy like this." Mumbling out the words, he found his eyes drawn to the ones glaring back at him from the virus. "A soul, trapped within it, even the boy doesn't know he's been played for a fool, used as the simple tools humans are."

Fire igniting around his hands, Deamon moved into a battle position, his wings spreading out to be used as protection in case he would need it. "Come then, and we shall see, who will be the one to rule supreme over all who lives."

Turning around to face the lone person to have enter the room, Babel held up one arm and pointed at the fully formed gate, faint whispers of light flowed across it as more and more of the virus poured out. "You see Gennai, The gate has open and vengeance become mine, now you can bear witness, as my virus destroys this world completely."

The black liquid dripping down steadily, quickly pooling around Babel's feet as his laughter filled the room, eyes burning with his insanity, he focused on Gennai. "Now you old bastard, face the true form of my wrath." Flicking out with his other hand, he chuckled as several new tendrils of liquid darkness shot out to impale his other creation. "With you death, my virus will grow stronger."

Rearing back, Gennai sent out small thanks for his new body, even if he found it disgusting and repulsive, it did turn out to be the massive plus he had hoped for in this battle. "Rodeo Bullet!"

At the same time, Deamon let lose with several streams of fire, several tendrils getting burnt badly, each one whipping back as a moan of pain filled the air. "Now do you see, I am one of the most powerful digimons around, I will not be defeated by a simple human creation meant to house a worthless digimons soul."

Reforming itself around Babel, the liquid darkness began to glow with an eerie pale purple light as it twisted in closer to the human. "Hmm, seems it won't be so easy after all, I guess, I had better unleash it completely." Reaching out with both hands, Babel's laughter filled the air as he planted both hands on the homemade digivice. "Now come, rampage, destroy, absorb everything, even me, and end everything today!"

As he screamed out the words, the four digi cores glowed brightly along with the gate, the dark liquid rushing out even faster then before aa Babel's laughter faded away, his body fully covered with the virus that were increasing the glow around it's body.

Watching it, Deamon let out a curse as he covered himself up with his wings, eyes closed shut as the first tell tale sigh of the coming attack hitting him in the form of a hot blast of air.

Caught completely off guard at the sudden attack, Gennai didn't have anytime to protect himself as he was pushed back by the hot air blast, the feeling of it washing over him comparable to that of rolling across a floor covered in glass shards.

Then everything went white as darkness and hot air ripped the temple and top of Mount Infinity to shreds, the gateway browning down into the ground as a massive geyser of darkness erupted into the air.

And finally, just as he felt more pain rip through him, unconsciousness claimed him, the sweet embrace of it saving him from having to see the tendrils of darkness tearing down towards him.

Across the room, Deamon roared as he battered away several tendrils, fire roaring to life in both his hands. "I see you for what you are, but even your darkness will be no match for mine." Letting lose two streams of his fire, he laughed as the virus recoiled, the tendrils going for Gennai stopping. "You understand? It will be me, and only me who shall rule the worlds."

Puling back in on itself, the darkness hissed as it kept glaring across the distance, the glowing eyes taking on a mocking look as tendrils shot back out, these one detaching after a second as they began to take on the shape of Neodevimons.

Observing each tendril, Deamon shook his head as the fire in his hands began to pulse; it's colors shifting with each pulse. "So, trying to outnumber me by dividing yourself, fool, that won't help you!" Merging the two fire covered hands together, Deamon laughed as the fire grew in size and intensity. "Chaos Fire!"

Watching as the powerful fire shot out, Deamon chuckled as each of the severed tendrils were consumed, their data shattering. "See, I am the most powerful digimon around now, and you will never defeat me." Holding up one hand as fresh fire formed around it, he narrowed his eyes. "When I absorb your worthless data, I will finally become the most powerful digimon in all the worlds."

Glaring darkly as the digital data clouds finally vanished, he froze as the virus had fully focused on him, tendrils moving across the whole room, a few of them pulling in Gennai. "What are you doing, you think that mutant digimon will help empower you?"

Moving out his hand to attack, he blinked as a small form rammed into it, it's eyes laughing as the Neodevimon barely formed shattered apart, its data getting pulled back into the virus. "Impressive, you managed to delay me just enough so you could absorb Gennai."

Reforming into a sphere as Deamon spoke, the remaining bits of Gennai's body was pulled into the virus, a pulsing glow forming around the surface of it.

Staring at the virus, Deamon chuckled as he noted the increase in power. "Very well, try your little stunt, it won't help you in this matter." Letting lose with all the fire he could summon, Deamon laughed as it spread across the short distance between them. "Now die, and become part of me, giving birth to my ultimate and final form, the super mega stage."

"Black Requiem!"

Watching his fire getting blown back as the amount of darkness and virus moving out of the gate tripled, Deamon didn't roar out in pain as his own attack washed over his body, it's heat not even stinging him as it spread across the wings and demonic parts of his body. "Such power, you could be a match for my own powers easily."

Ducking back to avoid the worst of it, Deamon watched as the whole temple blow up, the pillar of darkness reaching up higher into the sky above them. "Still, I will not give up, it will be interesting to see how long you will last."

Slowly, the virus began to pull in on itself, the massive tendrils rejoining and forming into parts of a massive body, a human upper body were the first to be seen of it, then came a massive four legged horse like body with tattered wings jutting out the back of it as it rose up through the now empty sky above.

Stopping a good deal above the mountain, the new digimon laughed as it spread it massive arms, three massive claws making up each of its hands slamming open as it spread out its arms. "Babel, my little fool, you have done well. My new body have been formed thanks to your little virus and the digital data you provide for me!."

Lowering its head, purple eyes glowed. "Now, at long last, the vengeance for my time in solitude and darkness will be brought about." Eyes moving as he scanned the area, a small grin formed as he watched the horizon. "Yes, the remaining parts are in this world as well, soon they will be returned to me as well, and then, I shall have all of my powers restored."

Holding out one hand, the digimon grinned as darkness flowed down over it, a single tentacle of glowing light forming as the virus itself flowed out of his body. "But first, I shall reclaim one more part of myself." Shooting the glowing tentacle straight into the ground, he laughed as he felt the digital earth rip apart before his might.

* * *

Far away, yet close enough to see it, Jun, Mimi, Lillymon and Blackwargreymon did nothing but stare as the darkness began to spread across the sky, tendrils jetting out of it to forms into a shape.

"It's, it's just like that time." Mimi breathed out as memories of a massive dark digimon came to mind; it's body covering the sky as it laughed down at the six children daring to oppose him. "It's just like it was in our last battle with Devimon!"

Tilting her head to the side, Jun pushed herself up into a standing position, her eyes narrowed as she too could see something much like it in her memories, but this one wasn't a Devimon, but a digimon of cold, relentless fire of destruction. "BlueMeramon."

And next to it, a digimon roaring in battle lust as it swung it's horned head from side to side. "Minotarumon." The digimon snarling as it watched her, and Yagami, that messy haired idiot standing on the back of a flying dinosaur like digimon with tattered insect like wings.

And with that memory, came one more, one of a proud man like wolf digimon, one telling her to be safe and confident in herself, no matter what would happen in that battle.

And across from it all, stood the one she hated now as well, as arrogant as ever, and with a bit younger look about himself as tendrils of darkness rose up from the ground, each one wrapping around the two digimons, Bluemeramon and Minotarumon.

Feeling frozen with anger and sadness, Jun watched as within the memory, the wolf man like digimon rushed across the distance, tackling the blue flame monster and dragging his claws through it's chest, Minotarumon turning to offer aid as all three were covered in the darkness.

Then she saw as Yagami's partner opened fire, the attack striking home as the darkness were blown back as her partner fell back out of it, his body breaking apart while Babel screamed in anger as the loss of his partner digimon and allied.

But rather then run to her partner's side as she would have expected herself to do, she held out her hands, watching as two of the digi cores she had searched for formed, each one glowing green and red, while the one's in Yagami's hands glowed blue and white.

Last thing she remembered, were Babel screaming as a gate formed on the mountain top, the darkness pulled down into it, well almost all of it as some of it ripped through Babel's chest, and another part, the one that had swallowed Bluemeramon and Minotarumon which had fallen down the mountain side.

Shaking her head as the memories faded, Jun growled as he held out one hand, finger pointing right towards the body that had fully formed in the darkness. "Babel's there, I know it." Turning her head to face her allied, she sneered as she saw him already prepared to leave. "Hold it, you're not going anywhere without me."

Opening her mouth to at least get a clue as to what was going on, Mimi didn't even managed to utter out the first sound before part of the ground ripped open, a tendril of glowing darkness wrapping around her, its tip striking her right where Tai had bit her so long ago.

"Mimi!" Going into action, Lillymon crossed the distance between her and Mimi in seconds, her hands clawing into the darkness as she attempted to free her partner. But badly, as another tendril moved out and pulled her away, it's darkness slowly beginning to spread over her body. "Mimi, no, Mimi!"

Not wasting a second, Blackwargreymon tore his claws through the darkness, watching as it parted like water before him, but unlike water, it didn't remerged as soon as his claws had passed.

Feeling the coldness of evil fading away, Lillymon shot backward, her hands forming into her main weapon. "Why you, you will pay for this, Flower Cannon!" Scoring through, Lillymon gave a mental cheer as she watched the tendril shatter apart, Mimi falling down onto the ground as the darkness left her as well. "Mimi? Mimi!"

Moving to watch her partner closer, Lillymon stopped as a small glow swept through the girl before her, the feeling of darkness fully fading away as Mimi let out a groan of pain. "Mimi, what happened?"

Keeping a cold eye on the hole where the darkness had come from, Jun clenched up her hands in anger. "He took it back, the part of the virus she received from Yagami." Her voice cold with anger, Jun glared across the horizon as she watched the dark body looking back at her. "I wonder, how long it will be before he takes back the part he gave me, and Yagami."

Eyes closed, Blackwargreymon let out a grunt as he stepped forward, arms crossed as he took the chance to feel the power of darkness. "This opponent, is far stronger then anyone I have faced so far." Turning her head to the side, he gazed down at Jun with an inviting smile. "And one so powerful as this, well, I won't back down from a chance to face him."

Smirking as she stepped forward, Jun lifted up her D3, it's surface gleaming in the cold light around them. "And if Babel is there, then so will I be." Grabbing a hold of Blackwargreymon's arm, as it was lower, she held on tight as she was placed on his back. "Now then, for out greatest battle yet, we'll destroy Babel, and then, well, who knows."

Watching them depart, Lillymon bit her lip as she returned her attention to Mimi. "Please, you have to wake up, we have to do something, we have to warn the others." Turning to face the darkness, Lillymon didn't feel as she bit through her lip, nor as the greenish blood trailed down over her chin. "Yagami, you better win against that, for your sake, and Mimi's as well, as I can't take revenge for what it did to my partner."

Pulling up her partner, Lillymon cradled her in her arms as she took flight, moving towards the nearest TV set that she knew the location off.

* * *

Still keeping a close eye on the scene, Deamon didn't as much as speak as the digimon tore the tentacle of darkness back out of the ground, a deeper darkness flowing through it and into the main body of the digimon. "Interesting." His comment apparently heard as the digimon seemingly focused on him all of a sudden. "Well, well."

Having had enough with simply playing the observer anyway, Deamon chuckled as he rose to meet it at eye level. Fire already spreading over his hands, he stopped as he too noticed the large dragon like digimon approaching. "A digi destined, figures that those human brats would show up at a time like this."

"Deamon, of the dark army?" The digimon spoke softly as it gazed down at him, its clawed hands closing as it began to float downwards. "You are the one right, Deamon, of the dark army?"

Eyes burning with hatred at that title, Deamon flung out a blast of fire, watching with a sea of hatred as it was blasted a part by a jet of darkness. "How do you know of that, who are you? And how did you learn to control that darkness, it can only be found beyond."

Interrupting Deamon's rant before it could really start, the centaur like digimon finished the demon lord digimon's sentence. "The wall of fire?" Asking it more as a question the digimon moved even closer to him. "I should, after all, I was born in that area beyond the wall of fire, birthed from the body of its supreme ruler."

Holding up a hand and giving a somewhat formal bow for a centaur like digimon, darkness slowly began to glow around the digimon. "I am Gulfmon, the remains of Apocalymon's darkness. I have all of his memories, his hatred, his despair, and added to that, me own rage and anger."

Turning his head to focus on the approaching ImperialDramon, Gulfmon held out one hand. "You desire to evolve beyond your current stage, yes?" Not waiting for an answer to his question, the centaur like digimon continued. "I can give it to you, but first I must ask you to delay that mega digimon while I take back that which what Babel gave away."

Crossing his arms in a rather forceful manner, Deamon let silence ruled the air for a second before he answered. "And why should I trust you? You had Babel kill of my most powerful servant, Skullsatamon."

Eyes narrowing in humor, Gulfmon spread out his arms as darkness waved in around them. "I didn't control him, I wasn't even fully awake until I absorbed both him and Gennai into the virus, but, if the loss of your Deamon Corps troubles you." Spreading his arms as three shadowy figures formed before them, he chuckled darkly at Deamon. "I can offer you a new and if is I have to say so, far superior group of digimons to serve you."

Eyes glinting with dark desires, Deamon unfolded his arms as he gazed up at Gulfmon above him. "I will do as you say, for now, just make sure you keep your part of the bargain, Gulfmon." Floating off, Deamon began to pick up speed as fire spread out over his arms.

Turning his attention away from Deamon, Gulfmon focused on two other figures growing in the horizon, both of them coming at him directly. "Taichi Yagami, Jun Motomiya, time for you to return the power and strength that Babel gave to you, so that I may final avenge myself on everyone."

* * *

Mind fully set on the fact that this small truce could be a trap or a plot to buy time, Deamon none the less found himself smirking at the thought of finally gaining the upper hand he had been seeking for so long.

No longer would he be just a mere pawn in someone else's game, he wouldn't have to bow down to anyone. Not even those seven digimons, or any of the others in the Dark Area, he would rule them all, as the only super mega level digimon around, he would be invincible.

Summoning up his fire, he gazed at his approaching opponent. "A mega digimon, powerful on your own, still, your pitiful might on its own will never match mine." Sending down a column of red hot death, Deamon chuckled as the large dragon like digimon did a quick turn to avoid getting burnt to a crisp.

Rushing towards the battleground, Davis and Imperialdramon almost didn't see Deamon at first, the only sign of the demon like digimon coming in the form of a pillar of fire nearly hitting them.

To avoid it, Imperialdramon did a quick turn, sending Davis flying inside the room on his back; his mind clearly hearing the loud curses getting sent at him. "Not now Davis, we have a problem, a really, powerful one." As he spoke, both the dragon like digimon and human boy watched as their new foe emerged from a higher lying cloud.

"Greetings digi destined." Fire wrapped around his hand, Deamon settled for hovering a bit above his foe, to add a bit extra punch to his already frightful appearance. "I am Deamon, and for now, I shall be your opponent."

Growling as he moved to a better fighting position, Imperialdramon watched Deamon closely. "So, you must be the one who caused that eruption of darkness?"

Smirking at the dragon like digimons attempt at being brave, Deamon simply chuckled as he narrowed his eyes. "I'm afraid I'm not, in a way, no, there is one more, but I have agreed to fight you for now." Spreading out his hands, Deamon let out a battle cry as fire shot out around him. "Chaos Fire!"

Shooting back as fast a she could, Imperialdramon watched as several multicolored fireballs shot past him, some giving off a hot feeling wile other felt as cold as ice. "Davis, you better hold on to something, cause this fight won't be an easy one, Positron Laser!"

Blocking the laser attack with a shield of dark fire, Deamon chuckled as he powered up his other fist with fire. "Such a weak attack, you didn't even get through my dark fire." Lashing out with another stream of fire, Deamon took a deep and cold delight in the roar of pain that just one direct hit of it caused. "Remember my name child and digimon, for you will fear it to your last day, Evil Inferno!" Letting lose with a truly powerful wave of fire, Deamon laughed as he overwhelmed Imperialdramon. "Yes, suffer!"

Falling down, Imperialdramon watched as Deamon stared after them, the evil fire slowly dying out. "Davis, he, he was too powerful, we couldn't." Glowing as he de digivolved, Imperialdramon quickly expelled Davis from his transport room and sighed. "We're sorry."

As they finished de digivolving, Veemon and Wormmon gazed over at Davis, blinked as they noticed him drooling a bit with a large lump on the side of his head. "Davis, Davis! Wake up!" Grapping onto the chosen child as they broke through a cloud, Veemon and Wormmon watched as Davis eyes fluttered open, and then as he screamed.

Far above, Deamon laughed as the scream reached him, the dark area was rough, cold and dark, and far to overrun with more powerful digimons, he may have bragged about his strength, but with the other digimons around there, it wasn't often that he could just destroy someone without calling down the wrath and vengeance of someone else.

But if this new deal played out, the order of things would be changed, he would be not only the most powerful digimon around, he would also get to rule all three worlds at once.

* * *

Still flying towards the erupting darkness, Tai and Wargreymon did notice that someone else were heading towards them even faster then they were flying.

As they came closer, the digimon they were moving towards became clear, it's monstrous centaur like body making even Tai gulp as he noticed just how much bigger it was, Wargreymon didn't even reach it's upper chest. "Ah buddy, you think we can take him?"

Not answering, Wargreymon buried his own thoughts in that direction as he felt what strength he had left flow through his body. "If he wants a fight, I'll give him a fight." Leaving anything else unspoken,

Reaching the point were they would crash with each other if they continued moving, Wargreymon and Gulfmon slowed down until they were just a few meters apart. "Okay, who are you?"

Smirking at the comment from the smaller digimon, Gulfmon lifted up both arms as darkness flowed in around him. "You should know, little Taichi Yagami, you do after all, carry part of me inside of you."

Eyes glowing with power, Gulfmon's face lost whatever pleasant appearance it had. "But enough small talk, surrender and I promise it won't hurt, too much."

His face turning dark at that comment, Tai simply glared back at him with both fists clenching up. "Forget it, and after we kick your ass, you can crawl back and tell Babel that he's next!"

"Babel?" Gulfmon simply commented as he began to power up, his eyes narrowing in a show of humor. "Babel is gone, absorbed into my being when he freed me, the foolish human was merely a vessel for my soul and a part of my old body, and now that he has played out his part, I devoured him along with the part of me he held, he even provided enough digital data to build a more useful body for me."

His dark look turning into one of horror, Tai felt a small amount of bile rise up in his throat at the thought of Babel's death. "You, you ate him?" No one, not even Babel deserved to die like that.

Wrapping himself in darkness, Gulfmon held out both hands as he laughed. "Dead Scream!" Watching as the attack shot across the distance too fast for the digimon to avoid, Gulfmon laughed as he watched the digimon scream as it could only protect it's partner from the worst of it. "I am Gulfmon, a mega digimon, and the darkness born from Apocalymon, and just as I devoured Babel and Gennai, so shall I devour you and your digimon partners."

Grabbing a still stunned Wargreymon in one massive hand; Gulfmon lowered his face until it was only a fraction away from both Tai and the dinosaur-man like digimons face. "Rejoice children, you get to become part of the one who will destroy both worlds."

TBC: Twilight brewing.

AN: Okay, following a massive writers block on the new chapter, and a rather large disgust at what I had written after finishing the first part when I reread it, I've done a rewrite of this chapter so it will hopefully make more sense, and be less annoying to me.

Ah, the personal whims of an author, how scary.

Next up, the battle with Gulfmon is finished, but will he be beaten, and on Earth, the return of the vampire digimon from the past moves into it final phase, this monster doing his best to finally get his revenge, control of both worlds at last, and to fulfill his destiny to coverer both worlds in darkness. But is he fully ready to tangle with the digi destined, or will the destiny foretold so long ago come to pass, as the final arc of my story begins, the arc of Twilight.


	27. Part XXVII

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Summery: AU, very AU and dark, with mentioning of torture, violence and blood drinking.

7/12 2006:

Okay folks, this is the new chapter, but before you read it, you should read the last previous which was rewritten about a month ago. Several things have been changed, and this chapter will most likely leave you confused if you don't.

* * *

Spawn of the vampire  
TBC: Twilight brewing.

* * *

Recap time:

_Last time, Babel freed his virus at last, brining about the beginning of the end, but Deamon, emerging from the shadows attacked the virus, stating it could empower him to reach a new level of digivolution. Azulongmon, freed from his destiny stone, told the digi destined of the history of the digital world and the birth of the darkness threatening the worlds._

_Gennai, having resigned from his place as guardian, faced down both the virus and Deamon, only to lose out to them as he was devoured by the virus along with Babel._

_Leaving to secure his destiny stone from Babel's evil, Azulongmon left the digi destined with a gift, granting part of his light to them, light which allowed Paildramon to evolve into Imperialdramon as Mount Infinity erupted with darkness._

_And from that darkness emerged the surviving evil of Apocalymon, Gulfmon._

_To make matters worse, Gulfmon and Deamon made a shaky pact in an effort to ensure the victory of darkness. _

_But even as they plot, an old evil trapped on earth will return to plague the worlds again._

* * *

"I trust everything is in place?" The voice was smooth, friendly, yet with a thick layer of coldness to it, the owner turning around from the window to stare at the others with in the room. "Everything must be perfect for tonight, you understand that right?"

Gazing across the table, Matt Ishida faced the members of his father's TV crew, the three older men and one woman giving him a nervous look as he moved to give them his full attention. "I am giving this concert for my dad's sake, to show everyone how much he means to me, and how sorry I am that he's in that coma now."

Unfolding his hands, the blond haired boy gave his best smile at the others as he moved to smooth out a small wrinkle on his new expensive suit, the dark blue and red colors sending a small sweet memory of the past through him. "I know you are all worried about him, and while I am the closets to him, I feel that this is really the only way I can help him, so please, help me help him by allowing me to have that live concert he's been working on for so long."

Opening his mouth to reply, the leader of the TV crew closed it again as those blue eyes focused on him, the feeling of facing down something stronger and more evil then anything else he had ever faced making him sink back in his chair. "Mr. Ishida, I understand, but are you sure, he wanted to be there and show you how proud he was of you and your band in finally gaining a solid contract."

Narrowing his eyes at that, Matt traced a nail across the glass table and hid his smirk as it caused a loud, painful noise to form, the humans in the room grimacing from it. "And what better way to show how much I care, by letting the whole nation know that I dedicating it all to him."

Standing up, Matt gave his best and friendliest smile as he moved past them towards the door. "Look, all you really have to do, is follow his plan, that's all." Holding out a hand, he chuckled as the traces of darkness in the room moved in around him, forming several small bats, each one bearing a different letter on it's head. "I'll even help you to be convinced of this!"

Releasing the bats, he chuckled as each crew member backed off in a hurry, chairs falling over as screams started up, each one lasting only until each and everyone had been possessed by his little alpha bats. "Amazing, the level of power I have in this body is simply amazing, had I known how strong I would be from this, I should have taken refuge inside a destined child long ago."

Gazing towards the back of the room, he grinned as three figures stepped out behind him. "Ah, the children left behind on earth, Sora, Joe and Izzy." Gazing at each of them, he gained a small pout as noticed the absence of their digimons. "Hm, no matter, my army is returning from hiding, my plans are nearly complete, and this time, the light won't win over me."

Gazing out the only window, he took a sick delight in watching the sunset. "Twilight approaches, the magical time before the total darkness of the night rules the sky." Spreading shi arms out wide, Matt laughed with twin dual voices, one deeper and darker then the other as he took in the true brilliance of his plan. "My return is at hand; at long last, I shall cover the worlds in darkness and rule them like a god!"

* * *

Gulfmon, mouth open wide watched as his next meal came ever close to him, the faint screams of the imprisoned Gennai and Babel howling at him to either stop or hurry up. "Silence the both of you, I am in control now, and what I say goes."

"Then go to hell!" Spitting out the words, Tai spun around and pulled out his D3's, the devices glowing as he held them down to his digimon partner. "Wargreymon, reverse digivolve!"

Glowing brightly, Wargreymon vanished as BlackGatomon and Agumon reformed, the two digimons letting out a scream of surprise as they, along with Tai suddenly began to fall down, Gulfmon staring after them in disbelief. "You, you would rather die like that?"

Still smirking, Tai held out his digivices again. "Not really, it's just part of the plan." Letting as much of his energy flow into the devices as he dared, Tai grinned as light flashed around him, his partner digimons going through their standard evolution rapidly until he was grabbed by Wargreymon. "See, and now, say goodbye."

Face twisted with rage, Gulfmon spread out his hands, darkness flowing from his claws as he let out a war cry. "You, you shall both die, then, I'll devour your data." Letting the darkness form into twin glowing spheres, he began to chuckle darkly. "But that way, you won't really be a part of me, you'll just be more of the data that went into my creation."

Slamming the spheres together, he let out a dark roar as he fire doff the attack, watching as it shot down through the air with pin point accuracy. "Die Taichi Yagami, and you too, Blackgatomon!"

"Terra Destroyer!"

Shielding his eyes as the attack exploded, Gulfmon snarled as he spun his head upwards to face one above him. "You, you're the other one, Jun Motomiya, the other one who holds a part of me." Turning his head to gaze at the digimon she was holding onto, he smirked. "So, the fake digimon is your new allied."

Giving a mocking bow, Gulfmon focused on the messy haired girl. "Girl, I know what Babel promised you, and know this, if you let me recover what you hold, I will give you something even greater then what he offered."

Still staring, Jun slowly broke into a grin as she sat up straighter. "Really, too bad I finally found something better, the desire to see everything Babel had made destroyed, which includes you."

Glancing down at Tai down below with a superior glare, Jun made a sour face as she coughed lightly into her hand when she turned back to face the dark digimon above. "Anyway, Yagami, don't think this means I'm giving up, I'll get back at you, but for now, Babel is my main concern!" Lashing out with one hand, she glared straight into Gulfmon's face. "So destroy his latest pet, Blackwargreymon!"

Eyes narrowed at the command, Blackwargreymon felt his heart race, and could even imagine his blood flowing faster through his veins as he faced down another powerful opponent, the kind he had been looking for. "With pleasure, Terra!"

"Dead Scream!" Using his own attack, Gulfmon snorted as he watched both Wargreymons get blown backwards again, the virus part of him flowing out in small tendrils. "You, destroy me, don't make me laugh!" Charging forward, he felt his powers fully rise up as he began to clash with his new opponent. "I'll destroy you control spire creature, devour what's left, and then eat your human friend."

Moving back to avoid several rapid slashed with the dark colored dramon killers, Gulfmon suppressed a chuckle as he saw everything go just as he had planned it. "Well now, aren't you going to join the fight, Yagami?"

Down below, Tai grunted as he watched the battle. "How much strength do you have left?" His question low spoken as he tried to think of a way to use Jun's arrival to turn the battle into his favor before it got completely out of control. "We need to end this, right now."

Also watching, Wargreymon didn't answer as he slowly turned to face another direction, his eyes locking onto the approaching Deamon. "Taichi, we have a problem."

Facing the direction his partner indicated, Tai let out a small curse as he gazed upwards. "We can't face down two of them, not now at least." Clenching up one hand, Tai lowered his head a bit. "Wargreymon, use a bit of your strength, we have to get Jun and Blackwargreymon to retreat with us, regrouping and regaining our strength is the best choice at this time."

Nodding, Wargreymon flew backwards a bit, power flowing into his hands. "Terra Force!" The attacl lacking a lot of the power it normally had, but still proving to be enough to force the two combatants to back off from each other. "Blackwargreymon, we have to retreat, another one is coming!"

Regarding Deamon as he took a moment to recover from the fight, Blackwargreymon spat out a curse. "Jun, we have to leave, while I don't mind fighting a powerful foe, I have no desire to go up against two at once."

Turning back from observing the approach of his allied, Gulfmon chuckled as he stared down his prey. "Well now, seems I'm the one who wins, you can't beat me Blackwargreymon, let alone stop my allied, so, surrender and serve me, if you know what's good for you."

Golden eyes closing, Blackwargreymon simply chuckled as he moved backwards, red power flowing down his arms. "As I told Arukenimon, I serve no one!" Lashing out, he shaped the power into a blood red sphere of death. "Terra Destroyer!" The attack holding as much of his strength as he dared to imbue it with, the very last he had to give.

Slamming out his own hands, darkness streamed out from his claws, Gulfmon deflected the attack away from with ease, and chuckled as he turned back just in time for him to watch Wargreymon and Blackwargreymon retreating. "Cowards, come back here!"

* * *

Reopening his eyes, Davis let out a squeak of surprise as he found himself hanging suspended in midair, Veemon and Wormmon clinging onto his bomber jacket. "What, what happen?"

"We did, and just in time too." The answer coming from above as Catherine glanced down at Davis hanging from an Airdramon's mouth, her eyes turning into a softer stare as she looked back at someone behind her. "Take us down Orgemon."

Giving a nod, Orgemon began to guide the Airdramon downwards, his eyes focused on the volcano like Mount Infinity. "You're lucky I left to find out what was going on." His voice firm, he tapped his bone club against his shoulder. "And I hate to say it, but before this day is over, this world will be fully covered by darkness."

Face grim as she helped Davis up, Catherine hid her sadness and fear as she gave a long hard look at the already spreading darkness around them. "We have another problem as well, Azulongmon and Baihumon can't help us, they got to the infected destiny stones in time, but all of their powers will be needed to protect them all."

Lowering his head at the comment, Davis sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair. "Not to mention that digimon, Deamon, he defeated Imperialdramon in minutes."

Turning their heads to regard him, Orgemon and Catherine gained a grimmer expression. "Deamon, but the only place you can find a Deamon in these times would be."

"The Dark Area." Orgemon finished as he closed his eyes. "The place of evil in this world, where everything that is truly evil go to when they are deleted."

Catherine nodded as she stood up in her full height, shielding her eyes from the darkening sky. "We better leave, this area will be unsafe, already the reborn darkness returns." Pointing upward with one finger, she traced the path of Gulfmon flying past them well above. "Orgemon, take us to the nearest Digi Port, Mimi and Lillymon should be there by now."

"Yes sir, Lady Guardian, sir." Saluting her, Orgemon suppressed a laugh as she shot him a death glare at the mentioning of her new title, a fact that never seemed to grow too old for a joke apparently if you asked him. "We'll reach the gate in a few minutes, so you better call up your remaining friends; we need to have a war council."

Facing them as they spoke, Davis grinned while pulling out his D-terminal. "Shouldn't take too long, the only ones remaining here should be Tai and Mimi." Hitting the e-mail function, the messy haired boy frowned as he looked at the messages. "Okay, so Matt's holding a concert, Kari and the others got back home safely, Lillymon's asking us to help her get the digi port opened up."

Moving to read the last mail again, Davis let out a cry of anger as Catherine tore it form him, gazing at the short message with a dark glare. "Okay, we'll head over to her, try and get Taichi and have him meet us there." Tossing the small device back at him, she focused on the sky. "By the way, this Matt guy, why is he holding a concert in the middle of a crisis?"

At a loss for an explanation, Davis simply shrugged as he sent a quick mail off to Tai, his eyes closing as he leaned back on Airdramon's back. "You know, I can't help but wonder if all of this is because the remains of Apocalymon's darkness is making their move."

When no answer came, Davis looked up to see Orgemon staring at him in horror, the green skinned digimon nearly dropped his club as he shook a bit from fear. "Apocalymon, he was the most evil digimon four years ago, the one who tried to destroy everything out of madness and rage."

"Everything." Voice a bit distant as he spoke, Davis sat up in a hurry, his eyes wide with shock. "Tai's coming, with my sister! He says he had a run in with a powerful digimon." Jumping up, he nearly knocked over Catherine as he gazed towards the column of darkness seeping into the sky, his eyes narrowed as he tried to spot anything moving there.

Behind him, Catherine grumbled as she fought back the urge to hit him over the head, her hands hanging by her sides as she settled for ignoring the messy haired boy at the moment. "Two remains of darkness, and a Deamon running lose, Gennai, did you have to quit your job today of all times?"

* * *

Gazing out over the digital world from the top of Mount Infinity as he landed, Gulfmon felt Deamon settle down as well behind him. "So, you're here, good, I was about to think you had backed out of the agreement." Turning around, he held out his hands as the remains of the virus bubble and churned within the crater it had formed. "Your new and improved Deamon corps."

As he spoke, three glows of light shot into the mixture of darkness and virus before them, the liquid evil rising up to form three distinct bodies before them. "Behold, the reborn digimons, Kimeramon, Arukenimon and finally, Callismon, your new knights of darkness."

Gazing at each of them, Deamon chuckled lightly as he watched he digimon gaze back at him. "Good, the likeness these digimons hold with the foes of their past, will give me a upper hand over the digi destined?" His voice cold, he gazed at the dark digimon before him. "Well done indeed, my allie, now, to finish what I have started, and destroy those digi destined."

Face completely neutral, Gulfmon held out one hand and grimaced as a digi gate began to form, a part of Tokyo becoming clear on the other side of it. "I know what I promised, and you have three members, but if you will, you can gain another member, it just requires a little convincing from your side, and this as well."

Tossing a ball of darkness and virus at Deamon, Gulfmon stared as the larger digimon caught it in his own powers of darkness. "With this, you can restore a lost digimons form, as well as return the digimons soul to it." Turning his head to regard the finishing digimons, he chuckled as a small dark gate formed, twin glowing digi core like souls flowing out from it. "Here, your new knights are complete, no go and recruit your final member, Myotismon."

Eyes blazing with dark delight, Deamon turned as he used his own powers to fully open up the gate to earth for himself and his new Deamon Corp. "Getting him onto my side will be easy, making sure he stays there will prove a bigger problem, but one I can ignore for now." Stepping through the gate, he looked back over his shoulder. "You just make sure you keep your part of the bargain."

"I will, just do your part." Crossing one arm over his chest, Gulfmon kept his eyes half closed as he gazed down at a small cluster of shattered trees below them. "You must keep the digi destined occupied and bring me the ones called Taichi Yagami and Jun Motomiya, only then will I give you what you want."

Eyes blazing, Gulfmon closed the gate and began to chuckle as he walked closer to the still flowing darkness. "Everything you want indeed, for in the end, you will die as well, as will we all." Tapping into the flow of darkness, he laughed as he began to call out through the digital world, bringing every source of darkness to him. "Now, to rise my castle of destiny from the ashes of Babel's dream."

Head turning, he watched as Piedmon's old castle rose up, it surface shattering as first one, then several other control towers ripped through it, their surfaces flowing out to cover the entire structure, turning it into a more twisted, dark version of a castle. "Yes, from that, I shall destroy everything, everything." Floating upwards as his insane laughter filled the air, Gulfmon gazed at the darkness filling everything around him.

* * *

"Jun."

"Brat."

Siblings sneering out their greetings for each other, Jun and Davis kept a close eye on the other one as Tai held Mimi in his arms, doing his best to avoid making it look like he was carrying her like a bride, but rather as a concerned friend because he wanted to, and be because of the digimon literally breathing down his neck.

Hovering next to him, Lillymon were cursing the fact that she still had her hands full, this time holding a tired out black colored feline digimon, Agumon slumped on the ground with Veemon and Wormmon. "So, why is it that I have to carry your partner?"

Head tilting at the barked out comment, Tai shifted Mimi a bit as he simply gazed into the pixi digimons eyes. "You really don't have to, but I'm not taking any chances, I want those hand to busy so they don't get busy hurting me, besides, Agumon said he could still walk so you're not holding him as well..." The last aimed at the orange colored digimon grunting out an answer while waving a claw at him.

Face flushing a bit with anger, Lillymon had to fight really hard to avoid tossing the dark toned digimon cat into his smirking head. "Just keep going, the sooner we get back to earth, the sooner I can."

Snapping her head around, Jun glared at the oldest messy haired boy as she crossed her arms. "Earth, forget it, I'm not going there, nor am I going home, I hate home." Her voice cold, she ignored Davis as he tried to interrupt her. "You know what is it like to live in a place where your parents think you're an idiot?"

Davis, turning his head to the side kept his eyes closed. "Yes, and I also know that they cared anyway." Snapping open his eyes, he faced her, one hand rushing out and slapping her across the face as she had turned around and leaned forward to yell at him. "You don't even know what your stupid power trip did to them do you, what it did to me!"

Eyes blazing with anger and tears, Davis fought down the urge to hit her again, instead keeping his eyes narrowed as he took a deep breath of air. "Mom locked herself away, and dad buried himself in work, because of you, they withdrew, they barely spoke to me or to each other for months."

"They died you know." Spitting out the words with a thick layer of guilt and sadness, Davis glared at her. "They died on the inside because they thought you had been killed by the digimons, they lost part of their life, part of what made them our parents."

Glaring at the messy haired girl with rage, Davis stepped back and turned to leave. "I didn't tell them you know, I could have, but I didn't." Glancing over his shoulder, he didn't as much as look at her, but rather right through her and her soul. "I didn't tell them that their daughter threw away her friends, family and everyone else for power, you threw away your life, and for what? This!"

Filled with just as much anger, Jun lifted up her own hand, its fingers spread out as she sent daggers of pure hate at her younger brother with her eyes. "You don't understand it, you don't." Voice growing softer, she turned her head away from him as if she didn't want to face him. "It was the only way out, a way out of the worthless life."

Still glaring, Davis sighed as he turned to face Tai and Lillymon. "Okay, now what?" His question muffled as he walked over to pick up Veemon and Wormmon from where they had ended up after de digivolving. "We got two crazy, overly powerful digimon after us, and the digital world getting covered in darkness."

"We go home." Tai replied as he grew more serious, his whole body stiffing as he felt the light fade away under the spreading darkness covering the sky. "We need to recover and regroup." Holding Mimi in a bit more comfortable position, he cast a non caring look back at Jun. "You're coming along as well, even if you don't want too."

Seeing Jun about to protest, Tai cut her off with his best glare. "Gulfmon wants you, as well as me." Showing nothing but concern at that statement, he sighed loudly as he moved towards the Television. "Apparently we have something of his, and if he can' get to it, we may have a chance to stop him."

Turning around at that, the fourth human in the area grunted as she crossed her arms, her whole face darkening as she walked forward. "Much as I hate it, he's right; you can't beat any of them right now." Catherine spitting out the words as she looked over her shoulder towards the Airdramon lying on the ground, her own digimon partner no where in sight. "As for me, I'll be staying right here, there are still digimons who needs help, and as the new leader of the guardian order, it's my duty to help them."

Watching her walk off, Tai shook his head as he wondered if he would ever get to see a less angry version of that French girl. "Okay, let's go home; we need Kari and the others to join us, as well as the others."

Jun, growling at the command, pushed off from her staring contest with the darkness and walked over to stand near the edge of the group, Blackwargreymon stepping up behind her. "Look Yagami, just because we're better of fighting together against this doesn't mean we're friends, it's just a team up to finish of the bigger evils, once they're gone, I'm going after you again, you can count on it."

Not answering her, Tai simply turned his attention over at Davis, his eyes still narrowed. "Davis, do it."

Grinning, Davis pulled out his D3, the nearby TV screen gleaming as he held it forward. "Digi Port open!"

Turning her head around as light flared up, Catherine watched as the digimons and humans vanished, pulled through the portal back into the real world. "Good luck, you'll need it."

* * *

Stepping out of the portal, Deamon swept his gaze across the sun lit city before him, his eyes narrowing at the sight of the humans walking around below him. "Worthless creatures, they don't even know what horrors they'll be suffering." Looking back over his shoulder, he gazed at his almost complete Deamon Corps. "Chimeramon, this is your first order, attack everyone in the harbor area, Callismon, you will spread some fear and terror in the streets, and Arukenimon, that metal tower over there is yours."

Hands lighting up with fire, Deamon chuckled as he hovered upwards. "As for me? It's time I made a small recruitment drive." Moving across town, he watched as his servants split up as he ordered, moving to carry out the attacks he had commanded, soon, the city would fall into chaos. "Gulfmon, when the time is right, you had better keep your word."

Following the feelings of darkness, Deamon watched as a bizarre building complex grew fourth before him, all sides of it looking like it was made from glass and steel, a large sphere formed section planted in the central side of it. "Humans, truly they have such ugly taste in dwellings."

Body tense, Deamon landed on the open space and grunted as he kept his eyes on the only entrance. "If this fool is as crafty a digimon as I have heard, he should have sensed my darkness by now." Spreading out his wings and arms, he chuckled as he settled back and waited for the arrival.

Something he didn't have to wait long for, as the door was slammed open to allow a young, blond haired human boy to step outside, three others following, one female and two boys, neither of them showing any signs of being fully aware. "Ah, so, you came, Myotismon."

Matt's face twisted with a mixture of disgust and anger as he stepped forward, eyes blazing with Myotismon's wrath as he held out both hands. "Why are you here, Deamon?"

Letting out a light chuckle, Deamon took a step forward as he allowed his wings to refold themselves, giving off the hint of a less threatening objective. "A new age is brewing Myotismon, an era of darkness, the time when a single digimon will rise up and cover the worlds in darkness."

Easing up on his won tough stance, Matt, or rather Myotismon allowed a doubtful expression to show as he began to motion for the other digi destined to spread out. "I know of it, just as I know that the legends and the prophecies speak of me, I am the arch rival and dark adversary of the light."

Suppressing a bout of laughter, Deamon instead gazed around at the scattered digi destined. "Planning on fighting me? If you are, you should be calling on more, useful forces; these ones don't even have their partner digimons." Fire igniting in one hand, Deamon dropped of pretense of polite talk. "I don't really care who covers the worlds in darkness Myotismon, only that I rule as the supreme lord and master."

Holding out his left hand, he formed a multi colored glow of fire in it. "I am merely here to show you some respect as a fellow dark digimon, join me, and I shall allow you to rule as a vassal lord beneath me, you'll become the leader of the Deamon Corps, second in command and power only to me! If not ..."

Shooting of the fireball, he watched as did the others as it ripped through part of the rooftop railing and flew further away into the sky, it's path having brought it less then half a mater away from Matt's body. "... you will simply die here, a death as worthless as the human you have possessed."

Hands clenching up, Myotismon kept a cold glare at the demonic digimon before him. "And how do you want me to lead your forces, as you said, I'm just possessing a worthless human boy."

Lifting up his right hand, Deamon opened it to show of the small ball of darkness and virus. "Ah, but I have the means to restore your former body, the one you had before you were deleted."

Face twisting up with disgust for the second time, Myotismon stared at it. "I would be an ultimate level digimon again, a step down, if not two." The last part aimed at the plan he had careful crafted, only to have it shatter with each new attempt he made at completion of it.

But even if it was a step down, he could still salvage something.

He could still obtain what he always wanted; it would just require another loss to make it work out after all.

"I accept."

Releasing the ball, Deamon watched as it floated forward, hovering just before Myotismon. "Good, now here's what I want you to do." As he spoke, the demon like digimon watched as the blond haired boy smiled right back at him. "Tonight Myotismon, the digi destined will finally fall."

* * *

Pulling themselves out of the pile on the ground as the digital gate closed behind them, several of the humans and digimons thanked whoever of the gods would listen, that Blackwargreymon had come out of the gate first, the massive digimon lying at the bottom of the pile.

The next thing happening as the kids and digimons began pulling themselves apart, were an outraged cry from Lillymon as she pushed Tai off her chest, a slight pink color on her face as she stood up with a dark huff on her face, the expression almost mirrored on Tai's face, except he had a look of embarrestment.

The whole thing matched by a just as pink glow on Tai's cheeks as he spun around to hide it, his body tensing up as he failed to recognized anything. "Great, we're one earth alright, but where?"

"You're in my house." The voice was low and rather grating as a tall and broad shouldered man stepped out of the darkness, his head and upper body cast in a shadow. "And weather or not you trust me, is up to you." Stepping fully out into the light, the pale and tormented face of Oikawa looked down at them. "But I hope you do, for I known who it is you'll be facing now."

Planting one hand on her hip, Jun snarled as she jabbed out one finger. "You again Oikawa, so what do you and your loser digimons want this time?"

Turning his attention over on her, Oikawa allowed a sick smile to form as he held back a small chuckle. "My digimons, they were never mine, they were always his."

As Oikawa spoke, four figures slowly stepped out form behind him, each of them holding a digimon as the stepped forward to reveal themselves as, Kari, TK, Ken and Yolie.

As soon as she saw him, Kari stepped forward, reaching out her arms and dragging her brother into a hug. "Tai, he's back again." Kari's voice cutting through the sudden thick tension filling the air of the room, chilling the messy haired boy to the bone as he saw the expression of fear in her eyes. "Myotismon's come back again."

Rushing forward, she grabbed him in a hug, her eyes watering as she held. "It's just like it was four years ago." Holding back her tears, she dug her fingers into him. "Tai, he's got them, he got..."

Turning his head away, TK glared out at the evening sky. "He's got out friends and family."

Eyes widening, Tai lifted his head up to stare at Oikawa, the man looked more devastated then anyone else he had ever seen before. "How, I heard he had been deleted, my sister and her friends, they defeated him!"

Lifting up one hand to hold his forehead, Oikawa sighed as he hunched over, his left arm shaking as he reached out to steady himself. "It was all my fault, my fault."

Dropping to his knees, he clenched up his hands hard enough to draw blood. "My weakness, my longing for my old friend and the dream we shared." Tears clearly running down his face, Oikawa did nothing to hide his shame as he kneeled down even further until he was one his hands and knees. "He abused my dream!"

Opening his mouth to reply, Tai stopped as the loud blaring sounds of police sirens reached him, the distant sound of more police moving out become clear to him. "What's going on?"

"He's making his move." Oikawa speaking lowly as he didn't look up. "He's going to do what he wanted from the start."

"He's going to come back."

* * *

"Heat Viper!"

Roaring loudly as he ripped through the metal structure of loading crane, container flying of along with the main part of the crane arm, Chimeramon roared as he spotted the harbor stretch out before him, the water gleaming with the light of the sunset and fire burning in the background.

Ripping through the roof of another building, Chimeramon roared out as even more of the weak human creatures began to fleeing before him, their small bodies breaking like a simple baby digimon. "Heat Viper!" The red hot glowing blast ripping through a row of cars, the fuel blowing up second later and taking even more humans down

Turning away, the path work digimon roared as he spotted even more humans fleeing, their scream of terror too much for him to put up with.

Moving to finish them, he stopped as the sound of another human flying vessel became clear, each of them moving forward rapidly from both the water front and over the burning house.

The nearest opening fire as soon as it was in ranger, those small round cannons belted his hide with a painful hailstorm of bullets, but failing in drawing blood or hurting him seriously. "Heat Viper!"

Flying rapidly to the side, the apache copter didn't fare to well, sure, they avoid the attack, but the heat and shock waves generated by it throw the small construct around like a toy, but even distressing, were the sudden failure of all onboard computer systems.

Luckily, or rather, true doomsday like; they never had to face a crash landing into a burning building, as the Kuwagamon arm grabbed the falling copter before that could happen.

What they had to face instead, was getting used to batter another helicopter flying out of the sky, the impact destroying both cabins, and those inside before the wreckage held by the digimon was hurled into the ground.

Lifting up his head, Chimeramon focused on the last copter's, the sleek black metal body moving backwards as it switched from machine guns to missiles, the tell tale smoke stripes forming as first one, then another one was launched.

"Heat Viper!"

None of them making it as they collided with the attack instead, blowing up in a massive fireball of death and destruction, hiding the massive digimon long enough for him to charge on ahead, hammering the last copter with his Skullgreymon arm, the small craft breaking apart as it fell to the sea below.

As he watched the last human craft fall, Chimeramon turned his head to face what was before him, the long metallic body of an aircraft carrier moving forward, humans running back and fourth as planes were made ready for combat.

And deep inside of him, he chuckled as the darkness delighted in the thought of crushing even more weak and helpless creatures.

Master Gulfmon would love the amount of sacrifices this attack would bring him. Soon, enough dark power would fill the city to fully open the gate.

* * *

Her sudden arrival didn't cause much trouble at first, after all, a human in a semi gothic dress standing on the top a truck wasn't really much cause for panic, but more for mild puzzlement and confusion.

That however, changed as her form bulged and twisted, growing into a horrific mixture between a human and spider, a large six legged underbody of a red colored spider, with a partly human upper body, a horned head gazing at each of them as she let out a hunting cry.

That caused the humans to break out into screams and panic, fleeing as fast as they could as spider treads were hurled at them, several getting caught right away, falling down onto the hard pavement as more threads covered and imprisoned them.

but there were still humans screaming as she swung down into their midst, her inhuman form taking up more then four times the space of the sidewalk, towering up over the truck. "My master, this is for you, a sacrifice to the new world!" Letting lose with more spider treads, she hurled the humans already trapped up, attaching them to the building walls in fine cocoons.

Moving forward, Arukenimon paused as she watched the street empty, her pray fleeing before her, no doubt rushing off to spread the word of her attack. "Master Gulfmon, your darkness shall prevail."

Holding out one arm, she fired off a strand of tread, attaching it to a small girl wearing a half mask over her mouth, brown eyes wide in fear as she was lifted clear of the ground. "You too, will become a sacrifice."

Wrapping up the girl in a cocoon, Arukenimon simply settled down to wait, her trapped victims providing the sweetest music for her to listen too while waiting for the remaining digi destined to arrive.

By the time they would arrive, the humans would provide the pathway her master needed to end everything.

* * *

Smiling as he flexed his arms, Myotismon turned to face the humans seated at the table before him, there were of course the four digi destined he had managed to enslave, the director of the tv station and several of the crew. "Tonight gentlemen, I want the show to be nothing less then a true marvel."

Hands folded neatly before him as he sank into the head manager's chair, the dark vampire digimon smirked as he gazed at his prices. "For tonight, I am not only reborn; I claim what I have always wanted." Slamming on hand down on the table, he enjoyed the sight of the human's flinching back. "And I want all the humans of this city to watch it."

Face cold and uncaring; he turned his chair to face the darkening sky outside. "This night, brings the start of the age of darkness, my age." Eyes narrowing in dark delight, Myotismon chuckled as he faced the digi destined present. "And you four will be a part of it."

One hand curling up into a fist, the vampire digimon allowed his whole demeanor to change, a small look of doubt filling his face as he mulled over the current events. "Deamon, Gulfmon, the two of you rival me in evil, but in the end, it is not you that I fear."

Head lowering to stare down at the street before him, Myotismon stood up, his cape moving in to cover his whole body except for his head, cloaking him in a shadow of his own making. "The light, four years ago the light burned me, took away one body from me, but I survived and became stronger, revived in a new body, only to have the light steal it away once more, leaving me as a helpless spirit."

Shaking the thoughts of his face, Myotismon gazed back at the wall behind him, his eyes narrowing as he felt, more then saw the shadow moving towards the ceiling. "The traitor, after I took her in and helped become more powerful, she turned her back on me, killed me-"

"-Allying herself with the child of light!" Ripping out his crimson lighting attack, the wall shattering in a jagged line as he struck the very place the shadow had been, plaster and concrete dropping to the floor. "But no tonight, this time, I will win; my darkness shall rule the worlds!"

Laughing, Myotismon cast his head backwards, one hand holding it as he willed his lighting whip to fade away, his eyes closing as he moved to face the others in the room. "Move it, at the precise time I mentioned, I shall reveal myself in my ultimate form!"

* * *

Staring darkly at the emergency news before them, the five digi destined and one reluctant captured villainess gazed long and hard at the TV screen, the different scenes of mayhem causing several frowns all around. "This is not good."

"Really." Davis spat out sarcastically as he slammed one hand into the other, his eyes narrowed as he took in the sight of Chimeramon rampaging through the harbor. "We gotta stop them."

Glancing back at the messy haired boy with a glare, TK didn't say much as he returned his attention to the TV. "It not just him, Arukenimon's back as well." Pointing at the screen, he did say much else as several growls could be heard around the room. "We also have to deal with Myotismon, and if what Oikawa said were true, he going to show up soon."

From her place, Kari hadn't said much, but her gaze moved over towards Tai as she saw him shift around while holding Blackwargreymon on his shoulder, Agumon sitting at his feet and Mimi in his arms. "Tai, you feeling okay, it was him who, well, you remember right."

Eyes darkening, Tai looked down at Mimi, the girl sleeping soundly with Palmon lying across her lap. "I do." Looking back up with a dark glare of determination, Tai slowly stood up and planted Mimi fully in the couch. "I'm going, for what he did to me and so many others, I'll delete him personally."

Glancing around the room, he focused on Davis sitting on the couch. "The rest of you should deal with Chimeramon and Arukenimon."

"Tai?" Stopping as she saw his look, Kari slowly lowered her head and glanced over at Miyako, the older purple haired girl looking back at her with a serious glare. "Okay, we'll deal with Arukenimon."

TK, smirking as he pushed off from the wall, looked over at the TV screen in time to see Chimeramon rip through a section of a cruise ship. "Chimeramon's mine." Hands clenching up, his smirk faltered as he felt Kari stare over at him with a lightly disapproving look. "I'm not going to lose myself to my anger again, it's just, Chimeramon, I have to fight him, you know whose data was used in making him."

Heads turning around, the five stared as Ken and Cody entered the room, their expression a bit somber as they walked further into the room. "Oikawa's resting, whatever Myotismon did to him left his body a wreck." head turning away lightly, Ken stared down at Cody, an unusually concerned look filling his face. "You okay Cody?"

Remaining silent for several seconds, Cody slowly nodded as he tried to push back the thoughts going through his mind, but failing. "I'm fine; I just didn't expect him to have known my father." And what a truth it was, he had always seen his father as champion of justice and light, but to know that he had been best friends with Oikawa. "Let's just focus on the attacks for now"

Sitting a good deal away from them, Jun glanced down at her hand and smirked as she looked back over her shoulder at Blackwargreymon. "Don't know about you big guy, but I'd love to hurt them all for what they did in the past." Standing up, she chuckled as she walked past Tai, her eyes staring at him. "I owe them all a great deal, so don't even think of stopping me."

Behind her, Blackwargreymon simply shook his head as he kept a cold and long glare focused on the TV screen, the footage shifting back to Arukenimon who had webbed up the whole street. "I too would like to exchange a few word with them, this Myotismon, he holds the secret to my past, I am sure of it."

Looking back over his shoulder, Tai nodded as he sat down Blackgatomon onto the floor. "We agree then, Davis, Ken, me and Jun will go after Myotismon, TK and Cody will deal with Chimeramon, and Miyako and Kari with Arukenimon."

Getting a series of nods in return, Tai grinned as he held out his digivices. "Then let's get going, the city won't save itself!"

As they rushed out of the room, the TV screen erupted with static fuzz, slowly changing its channel to the national emergency broadcast channel, a dark studio turning up instead of the new footage, a single beam of light hitting a small area of a grand stage, an imposing aristocratically dressed digimon stepped fourth into the light. "Greetings humans, and welcome to the last day of light."

* * *

The time had finally come, the room was ready, the cameras were shooting, live no less, broadcasting it through the national emergency system, overriding every other station in the country.

A nation of millions forced to watch his speech, to be able to do this with his second and without triumphant return to power, it was better then his first plan. Of course, it had a drawback, to truly become the most powerful, he needed the digital world and its darkness, but with the digi destined weakened and split up, forced to fight against Deamon's underlings before trying to stop him, he was safe.

Watching as a light came on, forming a circle on the improvised stage meant for Matt and his band to play on, Myotismon took a moment to watch the four digi destined as they kneeled on the floor behind him. "Your time is almost up children, this time, the bad guy wins."

Turning back to face the light, he grinned as he took a last minute to compose himself. "Greetings humans, and welcome to the last day of light." Came the start of his sentence as he stepped out into the only source of light in the room, his cape swept back to hang elegantly behind him. "None of you will recognized me no doubt, but know this, four years ago I took over the district of Odaiba, searching for the eight child, the so called digi destined of light."

One arm sweeping out dramatically in front of him, he enjoyed this moment, knowing that no matter where she was in the city, Hikari Yagami were seeing it. "And while my rule was supreme, it was ended by her and her allies through a mere stroke of luck, but tonight that defeat is swept aside, I am not only returning to take over this city again, but the whole world."

Mouth tinning into a cold smile, he allowed his last statement to sink into the minds of the humans. "You no doubt wish to know how I plan to do it; after all, I was beaten by mere humans once." Eyes narrowed in cold calculation, he lifted up one hand and pulled out the first two of his slaves. "Well, the truth is, this time, your heroes work for me."

Allowing a laugh to escape him, Myotismon did what he had planned to do even if Deamon had shown up. Cold and merciless, he powers of darkness swept down over Izzy and Joe, numbing their arms and ripping out the very digital powers they held, that essence flowing into the dark vampire digimon. "Yes, such a delicious feast, it has been so long since I last had a meal like this."

Tossing the two boys away as he finished with them, Myotismon chuckled as he held up his hands, the faint outline of his most recent energy feast fading into his glove covered hands. "Such potent energy, far better then that of a normal human, but one shouldn't dismiss even the smallest amount."

As he spoke, a cloud of bat tore out of darkness, each one impacting his body. "As the humans outside this place no doubt knows by now, all the fans of Matt Ishida are truly helping him at last, helping him bring me back to glory." pulling out Matt and Sora, he allowed a second laugh to escape him-

Lifting his head, Myotismon held out his hand, light flowing into it from both Matt and Sora, the two of them not even screaming as they began to drop to their knees. "Yes, yes." Releasing them, the vampire digimon chuckled as he spread out his arms, head tossed back. "The powers of the digi destined of Love and Friendship are truly all it is said to be, and combined with the powers of Knowledge and Reliability and that of the more worthless humans I've dined on, I can finally unveil my true form."

Body glowing with a mixture of the captured traits of the digi destined, Myotismon laughed as he felt his data begin to rearrange itself. "Myotismon Digivolves too." getting covered in a sphere that shrunk rapidly to the size of a soccer ball at first, then suddenly grew to fill up a good deal of the TV studio, the stage cracking under it presence, even breaking in some places. "Malomyotismon"

Slamming one massive armor covered hand into the floor, Malomyotismon stared out through the TV screen and into the city, his massive frame barely covered by the most distant cameras as they zoomed out.

Rising up high enough to brush against the ceiling, his whole body were metallic, massive lower arms held up by rather thin upper arms, each hand made up of three fingers with two claws on the end sticking out of a domed arm, one his knees he sported warped ying yang symbols with red eyes, a lone tail sticking out his back as two huge spheres made up his shoulders.

On his back, a massive purple, red and black colored metal construction had formed to mimic wings, a warped yin yang symbol in the center of it.

The only thing note covered by metal, were strangely enough the true head of Malomyotismon, the red mask he always wore having warped as well, now forming a needle like nose and two swept back bats wings, his eyes glowing yellow out through the eyes holes as his dragon like mouth opened up to reveal his dagger like teeth.

"Tonight humans." His voice sounding much like a dragon roaring as it prepared to slaughter the knight before it; the demon lord digimon took a single step forward. "My era begins."

TBC: Twilights hour part 1.

AN: Another chapter done, and I'm one step closer to completion. Next chapter will see the forces of darkness growing smaller as the last batch of dark digimons fight against the DD's.

Also, forgot this the last chapter, but this story has now been in the works for over 3 years.


	28. Part XXVIII

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Summery: AU, very AU and dark, with mentioning of torture, violence and blood drinking.

* * *

  
Spawn of the vampire  
Twilights hour part 1.

* * *

Recap time:

Revealing himself on live TV to the whole nation of Japan, Myotismon ended his speech by absorbing the power of the four enslaved digi destined in his grasp, evolving into the demon lord digimon Malomyotismon. At the same time, Chimeramon and Arukenimon had begun to spread fear and terror throughout the city in an effort to divide the digi destined and turn them into easy prey.

Can they win this time, as the most powerful trio of evil digimons, Malomyotismon, Deamon and Gulfmon, stand in their way, with all of them aiming to either rule the worlds, or destroy them.

* * *

Crushing the TV camera under his feet, Malomyotismon began tearing his way through the studio, the passed out forms of Matt, Sora, Joe and Koushiro left behind in the rubble. "At last, I shall rule it all." Ripping into the wall, he laughed as it buckled like tin foil beneath his arms, tearing out to reveal the splendor of the city as it slipping into the early stages of night, the hated sun already having moved down below the horizon.

"It begins." Muttering out the words, the massive demon lord digimon jumped, easily handling the five story fall easily, even if the street didn't, as the massive cracks spreading from the impact crater proved. "Digi destined, tonight, I will devour the powers from all of you, and rule both worlds, as it has been foretold!"

Taking one step forward, he stopped as he spotted a shadowy digimon landing on a nearby car, destroying not only the roof of it, but every single window as well as causing its tires to blow. "You will wait here, the master arrives." Callismon proclaimed as he stood up in his full height.

Face turning slightly trouble, Malomyotismon turned to see the broken pavement off to his side glowing dark purple as a dark gate formed, the massive form of Deamon rise up through it, his wings spreading out as he cleared it completely.

Eyes shifting, Deamon watched the sky above with a morbid grin on his face, fire forming in his fist as he began to walk forward. "They're here, Callismon, Malomytismon, the dragon digimon is mine, how you two deal with the others I don't care."

Head lifting up, Malomyotismon laughed as he too could see the digimons hovering in the air above them, the blue mega level dragon digimon Imperialdramon, and on each of his sides, were Wargreymon and. "Deamon, leave Blackwargreymon to me, I shall enjoy ripping my creation to shreds." And the powers of a hundred control spires added to his own would be a nice bonus; Arukenimon had really done well in creating him.

Holding out his gun gloved hand, Callismon grinned as he zeroed in on the remaining digimon. "He shall die tonight, my master, Rodeo Bullet!"

Smirking darkly as he watched Wargreymon do a barrel roll as each bullet hit right on his armor covered chest, Deamon laughed as he flung both fire covered hands forward, the deadly flames ripping out across the distance easily. "Flame Inferno!"

Left behind, Malomyotismon simply focused on Blackwargreymon as each of his shoulder heads opened their mouth, spheres of darkness forming inside each of his mouths. "Screaming Darkness!"

The final battle for the Earth had at last begun.

* * *

Glancing up from the sinking wreck of a ship, Chimeramon roared in victory as he watched the few lifeboats to have escaped despite his attacks. "Heat Viper!" but not for long, soon they would join the others on the bottom of the harbor, as sacrifices to the master.

Only this time, his attack never reached its goal, instead it exploded about a third of the way as twin beams of light intercepted it, a massive wave forming on the sea below as a shockwave was generated.

Turning to face his opposition, Chimeramon froze momentarily as the massive form of Shakkoumon was more then a match for his own, the massive eye like holes still smoking as he moved to an attack position.

Spreading out his own hands, Chimeramon roared as he began to fly closer, his short moment of doubt long forgotten as his need to kill and destroy washed in over him again. "Hybrid Arms!" His devimon arms stretching out across the distance as a dark glow formed around his fingers.

Slamming out his arms, Shakkoumon's waist opening slammed open, several saw like disk shooting out to cross the distance between him and Chimeramon's hands. "Kachina Bombs!" Each one lighting up the early night with massive explosions, followed by the virus digimon roaring as he pulled his arms left.

Hands still smoking, Chimeramon roared out in absolute rage as he tore forward, his Skullgreymon arm ripping onto Shakkoumon's shoulder, while his Kuwagamon arm began to pound lose on the holy digimon's waist opening.

Feeling no change in the armor, the monstrous digimon roared out as heat and dark power began to fuse in his mouth, dark and red light seeping out as he opened his jaws. "Heat Viper!" The attacking hitting right into Shakkoumon's face, the force of it sending the digimon flying back as a loud screeching sound erupted from his shoulder as the Skullgreymon's arms bone fingers tore long scratches through the outer layer of his amour.

Impacting the ocean and sinking down into it face first, Shakkoumon's head spun around along with his upper body as the waves swallowed up his body. "Justice Beam!" Only to cut right through it with holy power as it was Chimeramon's turn to fly backwards, impacting the side of the ship and sinking into the sea as well, his wings and arms beating madly to pull him up again.

Eyes burning with hate he began to fly up, Chimeramon snapped open his mouth as Shakkoumon rose as well. "Heat Viper!" The attack hitting the water over and over again, causing stream to fill the harbor with a veil of fog that completely obscured the massive digimons from sight.

His amour protesting as water, stream and heat assaulted it, Shakkoumon snapped open his waist opening again, several disk shooting out through the fog, either getting hit by Chimeramon's attack, or hitting water at first, though in the end he was rewards by several roars and screams as Chimeramon was finally hit.

Lifting slowly, the fog cleared ot reveal Chimeramon looking as badly damaged as himself, his body bleeding in several places while his Skullgreymon arm had been blown clear off at the elbow joint, the remaining bone part slowly breaking apart with each passing second.

Mouth hanging open, Chimeramon felt the last of his strength fading slowly, but surely, he wouldn't be able to last much longer if he had to fight this thing. And he could feel, the master had other plans for him, he, he had to find Arukenimon, the master ordered it. "Heat Viper!"

Looping out one final attack, Chimeramon aimed it at the sea, rather then the recovering digimon before him, the erupting water and stream knocking Shakkoumon backwards, as well as shielding his escape, his wings beating overtime to propel his massive bulk through the air as fast as he could.

Recovering, Shakkoumon gazed after the fleeing digimon, his head moving to stare as the ship finally sank down beneath the waves before him. "TK, Cody, we will punish him for this, you have our word!"

* * *

Hiding herself within her web, Arukenimon gazed uncaringly down at the humans struggling in her lovely cocoons, their strength slowly fading away little by little. In the distance, she had observed three digimons flying towards Lord Deamon's current whereabouts.

Smirking wickedly, she sent a small tremor through the web as she moved further back, hiding herself completely from any observes below. Her master wanted chaos and destruction to lure the digi destined away from him, and she was more then ready to provide him with that.

Licking her mouth at the thought of tearing into the human children and their digimon, she began whistled lowly, her eyes un blinking as she kept close watch on the street below, alternately turning her head to watch the other end of it, just in cases they would be trying to sneak up on her.

Finding no sign of them, she settled back to watch, her of key whistle enough to keep her on her toes. "Static Force!" The voice coming from behind her along with a tremor of her web throwing her completely of guard as she spun around to see a glowing pink sphere hurtling right towards her.

Pain flowing through her body, Arukenimon flailed her legs around as her web broke around her and sent her falling downwards, the only thing saving her from a serious fall being a loosely hanging tread snagging around her left arm. "You cowards, attacking me from behind, what kind of heroes are you?"

Hovering silently in he air, Silphymon slowly spread out his arms as he began to gather up more power. "Kari and Yolie had a single wish, to see you dead." Firing off the attack, the bird man like digimon growled as Arukenimon dropped down to avoid the attack. "You can't run, for all the evil you've caused, we're going to delete you."

Lifting her head upwards, the insect like digimon grinned as she lashed out with both of her hands, small strands of tread flowing out from her wrists. "Hardly children, Spider Tread!" her attack missing as the digimon above simply flew out of range. "Rrr, come down here and fight like a mon!"

Acting just as she had demanded, Silphymon moved into a dive bomb, his belt buckle spinning around wildly as energy gather up around him. "Astral Laser!" The massive static attack flying right into the ground as Arukenimon jumped backwards to avoid it, but still stumbling as a cocoon human lay in her path. "Arukenimon, we don't care how you came back, but this time, we will make sure you die!"

Face splitting with a sick grin, Arukenimon ripped lose the cocoon she had nearly fell over and held it out before her. "I wouldn't be so sure, if you do, I might just use my little sacrifices for protection."

"And you call us a coward?" Dropping down onto the ground, Silphymon glared as he slowly allowed the gathered up static force to fade away. "There, now put the human down."

Eyes gleaming with insane delight, Arukenimon swung the cocoon away from her face. "I think not, Acid Mist!"

Flinching back as it was his turn to be wrecked with pain, Silphymon let out a massive scream of pain as he collapsed to the ground, the acid eating through his feathers and skin. "Arukenimon, you-."

Laughing out, the big spider human like digimon stepped forward, one leg lifting up. "Aw did it hurt, don't worry, it will soon be over!" hammering down her leg at the last comment, she grinned as she watched the bird man like digimon hitting the ground harshly, arms spread out around him as she kept pressing down with her leg. "You'll be a perfect sacrifice to the master, much better then the humans."

Grunting as the painful pressure increased, Silphymon slowly lifted up his head, staring right into the soft underbelly of the spider digimon. "I think not you overgrown bug!"

Laughing out as she kicked him around onto his back, Arukenimon simply lifted up her leg once more, aiming right for his chest. "You've lost, why won't you just admit it."

Smiling, Silphymon used the only chance he had to pull of his surprise attack, the static force he had given up on before returning twice as fast. "Because you're wide open, Static Force!" Firing off the attack, Silphymon took in the shocked scream from the spider digimon as he body was once again wrecked by pain. "Arukenimon, this is the end."

Flying out from under her, he grabbed the cocooned human and planted it on the ground. "For all of your evil, for all of your crimes, for all the suffering you have caused-." Turning around slowly to see Arukenimon struggle back up onto her legs, he growled as he pulled in as much static electricity as he could. "-We condemn you, Static force!"

Looking up with a terrified expression, Arukenimon barely had time to scream as she was hit, the sheer volume of static force ripping through her body had her collapse once more, her mind blanking out as she tilted to the side. "I, I can't." Then she grew silent and simply lay there as smoke poured up from her body.

Panting as he watched it, Silphymon slowly walked over and gazed at the digimon as she breathed in and out harshly. "She's still alive?" his eyes wide behind his visor, he took a step back and began to pull in more static charge. "Yolie, I know you just her stopped, but digimon like her, they can't be changed."

"Heat viper!"

Face snapping up in shock, Silphymon barely had time to escape as Chimeramon attacked, the massive digimon ripping through the webbing surrounding the battle ground with ease.

Coming to a stop a good deal above the ground, Silphymon watched as the Devimon arms reached down and lifted up Arukenimon gently. "What he doing?" Shooting forward, he growled as he prepared to attack again, only to stop as a great glow formed around them. "He, he's joining with her."

As the glow increased, Silphymon found himself forced to shield his eyes as Chimeramon blew apart, his data slipping into Arukenimon's body easily. "Chimeramon."

The spider like human female opening her eyes as her body began to spin around in the air. "Arukenimon!"

"DNA digivolves too." Shrinking rapidly in size, Arukenimon lost all traces of her insect like body as she instead gained a rapidly old appearance, a green colored cloak/dress wrapping around her as a broom formed in her right hand, a mop of grey hair pulled into a bun behind her head. "Babamon!"

Giving a wicked smile, the digimon held out her broom casually in front of her as she began to advance on Silphymon. "We have become one, the power of Chimeramon and Arukenimon combined." Swinging the broom much like a sword, she chuckled as she began to pick up speed. "This time, you shall be the one to die! Empress Haze"

Scrambling to avoid the sudden wave of dark magic flying towards him, Silphymon barely had time to think as he found himself colliding with the still present webbing above him, the sight of a car getting instantly deleted below greeting him as the magic swept past the area he had just been in.

Head turning lightly as the sound of collapsing wall reached her, Babamon simply watched as the towering figure of Shakkumon moved into the street, web strands and broken pavement proving no challenge to him at all. "Ah yes, we remember you from our Chimeramon parts."

Spinning around, a cold smirk formed on her face as she swung her broom back and fourth in a testing manner. "And trust us; we shall enjoy hurting you a ten fold for each of the injuries you gave us." Rushing forward, she jumped straight up into the air; her broom spun around much like a bo staff would have been in the hands of a martial artist. "Die, Tri Banish!"

Snapping out his hands in pure shock, Silphymon didn't have of a chance as pure pain engulfed him.

* * *

"Terror Destroyer!"

"Screaming Darkness!"

Pure negative power battle each other for control as Malomyotismon and Blackwargreymon tore into each other, their minds fully set on destroying the other one.

The massively armored demon lord digimon sliding one foot backwards as his right shoulder head opened its mouth. "You shouldn't fight me Blackwargreymon, I am your creator, and you belong on my side of the battle!" Firing off a massive stream of negative force, the dark digimon chuckled as Blackwargreymon had trouble blocking the attack. "You power joined with mine will make me invincible!"

Grunting as he strained against the wave of evil, Blackwargreymon pushed back with all of his might. "I don't care if your my creator, I have seen what you are all about." Glowing red with negatively charged energy from the earth around him, the warrior digimon pushed forward. "Your evil doesn't belong in either world!"

Letting lose with an amused laugh, Malomyotismon cut off his stream of darkness, moving so his front was completely towards Blackwargreymon. "It does, it has and will always be my fate to rule both worlds, and cover them in darkness." Snapping open both shoulder heads as he spoke, red light began to swirl around in each of their jaws. "You are the one who doesn't belong, you who are nothing more then a pile of faulty control towers."

Charging forward, he blocked Blackwargreymon's claw attack and scream as he let lose with his second attack. "Crimson Mist!" The mist shooting out with enough speed to nearly catch him off guard, as it reduced everything around to a molten state. "Yes, melt away you failure, and leave behind your powers for me to absorb!"

"Hardly." Blackwargreymon replied as he flew upwards, leaving the acid mist behind below as he spun around rapidly, a dark coloreds tornado forming around him as he twisted downward again. "I shall delete you, Malomyotismon, Black Tornado!" The attack pushing back the oversized digimon easily, a car getting destroyed in the process as Blackwargreymon rammed into him with all of his strength and momentum.

Slowing to a halt, Malomyotismon laughed as he stood up in his full height. "Is that all you have?" Stomping forward as he spoke, the demon lord digimon felt his powers returning again. "You barely even phased me with that attack, Screaming Darkness!"

Above the battle ground, fire and laser struggled for dominion as Deamon literally ripped through everything Imperialdramon put up, his fire lighting up the sky. "Child, you failed in beating me the last time, what makes you think this time will be any different?"

Moving back as fast as he could, Imperialdramon glanced up at the digimon simply hovering in the air. "Because of Davis and Ken, they believe in us, and we will defeat you!" letting lose with another laser blast, the giant dragon digimon grunted as Deamon simply blocked it with practiced ease, his fires swallowing the light beam completely. "Davis, Ken, hurry up, we need your help out here."

Flying forward far to fast for a digimon of his size and bulk, Deamon set one muscled fist flying right into Imperialdramon's face, the blow actually sending him flying backwards. "It is beneath me to deal with one as weak as you, but if it gets me what I want, then so be it."

Pulling out of his fall, Imperialdramon turned around to see Deamon hovering above with a bored expression, his face showing nothing but boredom. "Why you, we'll show who weak! Mega Crusher!" Snapping open his mouth as he yelled out the attack name, he saw the surprised look on Deamon face as he fired off a powerful blast of raw power from his mouth.

Snapping out one hand, Deamon felt his fires return, growing to an ever increasing strength. "Flame Inferno!" The stream of fire ripping out to impact the power form Imperialdramon. "Nice to see, that you have a bit more strength then I first thought, bit it is still no enough!"

"Terra force!" The orange glowing positive energy attack ripped open an ever growing crater in the ground as Callismon moved backwards, his wolf like face grinning as the warrior digimon before him charged forward. "Mega Claw!"

Sliding into his own attack stance, the heavily muscled digimon snapped out his gun hand and took aim at him in less then a second. "Rodeo Bullet!" The three bullets whizzing into the armored shoulders and chest of Wargreymon who were forced to break up his attack in order to defend himself. "The master wants your partner's body, and I shall deliver it to him!"

Executing an impressive flip, Callismon landed on Wargreymon's back, his left hand punching down into the lower spine area harshly. "You on the other hand, he doesn't want, so you get to die!"

Sliding across the unforgiving pavement, all Wargreymon could feel was pain, and lots of it as he pushed himself up. "Gennai, we, Terra Force!" the attack flying out rapidly, melting the ground as it impacted the still laughing Callismon, sending him flying backwards into the side of the TV station. "We have no choice, but to delete you."

Pushing himself out of the building, Callismon responded by firing off a rapid succession of bullets, each one punching through a car window, pavement or glancing off Wargreymon as he formed his shield for protection. "You are the one who shall be deleted, as a sacrifice to the master."

* * *

"You sure about this?"

Looking down from his place on the staircase, Davis nodded as he too could hear the sounds of the battle raging outside, concern on his face as a loud boom rattled the building. "Yes, I want to help them too, but we also need to get the others out of here, it's dangerous if we just leave them like this."

Nodding in understanding, the young brown haired girl focused on her brother. "You holding up back there?" her voice soft as she watched him holding onto the other girl. "We could have left her back at Oikawa's house."

Smiling somewhat strained, Tai moved the girl in his arms. "I know, but I feel, that she will be needed." Eyes turning hard, he looked up at them. "Now let's hurry, the faster we get this done with, the faster we can get out there and help."

Grinning, TK looked up as well, one hand unclenching as he began to walk upwards a bit faster. "They should be within the main studio, about another floor up; I just hope all the digimons we need to defeat are really outside."

Reaching the floor of the transmission, Davis and TK nodded at each other as they stopped before the door, taking a small second to compose themselves before barging in, freezing as they were met by a mostly empty room, the only people being the ones who had manned the camera's now out cold, and still lying there on the surface of the partly broken stage.

"Matt!"

"Izzy!"

"Sora!"

"Joe!"

Rushing forward, Tai stood back, rather unsure of how to react, the people out cold before him, he hardly knew them, they had merely been those who had failed in saving him once, then, they had greeted him as a friend years later, but he really didn't know them.

"It's hard isn't it?" The question shaking him out of his thoughts, just in time to see the remaining half of a transparent wizard like digimon coming up through the floor. "Not thinking you belong, but knowing that other think you do." Stepping forward, the digimon focused on Kari as she turned to face him. "It is nice to meet you again, I just wish, it didn't have to be this way."

Reaching out on hand, he lightly traced it across her D3. "Gatomon needs your help; she's not strong enough to defeat her current foe." Looking down at the out cold people, he closed his eyes and reached up to pull down on the cloak covering his mouth. "You will need them as well."

Stepping forward, he stopped right before the four of them and cast a quick look over at Tai. "Place her with them as well, she too will be needed."

Giving him a reluctant frown, Tai felt his sister urge him forward as she too frowned, but at him rather then the wizard like digimon. "Okay, but I hope it works." Placing her next to Sora, Tai took a few moments to watch the unconscious red haired girl.

Then he stepped back moving to stand next to Kari. "She really has changed you know, she hardly looks like the Sora I once knew." Gazing away, he focused on Mimi, wondering if she too had changed like Sora had, if she too had been as different from her present persona, then her past one. "I really have to spend more time with her outside these battles."

Watching the five children before him, Wizardmon smiled sadly as he pulled up on his cloak, hiding his face again, hiding the wretched appearance of it. "Kari, tell Gatomon, that I'll always be her friend." Glowing brightly, Wizardmon's ghost slowly began to fade away; his power flowing into the digi destined lying on the ground. "My power, shall awaken them from the damage Myotismon's assault has caused, and destroy him, once and for all."

Fading completely, Wizardmon didn't miss the shocked expressions on the digi destined faces as they awoke, their bodies still sore from having their power torn away.

Smiling as she stood up, Mimi slowly reached down, grabbing onto Sora's hand and pulling her up. "Are you ready Sora, they need our help?"

On the ground, Matt gave a weak grin as he stood up on his own, his hand grabbing into TK's. "You needed my help, brother?"

Staring, Joe and Izzy nodded at each other as they stood up. "We're ready."

Giving a loud laugh, Davis spun around and stared down at the battle ground below. "Well then, let's go!"

* * *

"Rodeo Bullet!"

"Terra Force!"

Ripping into each other, the two attacks barely phased each other as they continued onward to impact the other one, Callismon and Wargreymon moving backwards to avoid the attack aimed at themselves.

Panting as he stopped moving, Wargreymon gazed at the heavy breathing wolf man like digimon as he barely avoid his attack, the only sign of it being a bit of singed fur. "This battle has gone on long enough!" Rushing forward as he spoke, Wargreymon ducked and wavered as several bullets were sent at him. "Mega Claw!"

Trying to avoid the up close and personal attack, Callismon did managed to get out of life threatening range, but still found himself stabbed painfully in the left shoulder, digital blood pouring out as he roared in pain. "No, the master, I won't."

Lifting up his right arm, the digimon let out a small chuckle as he pressed the gun covered gauntlet up against Wargreymon's head. "Even you won't survive a head shot like this." Laughing as he began to feel his bullets power up, the digimon stopped as he saw Wargreymon smirking. "What?"

Slowly turning his head to face Callismon, Wargreymon simply smiled as he looked right into Callismon's eyes. "I've already won, Terra Force!" At his scream, the wolf man like digimon didn't have time to scream as the positive sphere of earth power formed between his gauntlet covered hands still buried inside Callismon's left shoulder.

Screaming in absolute pain and fear, Callismon cold only watch as his whole shoulder was vaporized by the forming attack as it ripped through him from the inside out, seconds before it shot off towards MaloMyotismon's unprotected backside. "No, the master, his wish to see everything die, I can't fail it."

Watching as the wolf man like digimon's data scattered, Wargreymon lifted up his eyes to see Imperialdramon facing off against Deamon above and losing, and on the other side of the street Malomyotismon was going head to head with Blackwargreymon leaving the street a charred mess. "Taichi, whatever you're planning, do it fast."

* * *

Moving out from the building, Tai started across the distance and into the heart of the battle, watching as Imperialdramon and Wargreymon teamed up against Deamon, the demonic digimon burning away everything in his path, cold laughter filling the air. "Davis, Ken, did you bring it?"

Behind him, the two boys nodded as they held out Izzy's laptop, the computer running close to silently as Tai gazed down at it with a frown. "He told me, to call him when I needed help." Lifting up his orange D3, Tai smiled as he stepped closer to the glowing screen. "I can think of no better time then this."

Trusting out the D3 as it began to glow, he gazed at the screen as it glowed and switched on the digital gate program. "Mimi and the others are safe right?" his commented aimed at Davis who nodded as he watched the rest of the newer digi destined moving towards them while Mimi had begun to the older digi destined to safety. "Good, then let's do this."

"Yeah!" Yelling out the agreement, Davis grabbed his own D3 and held it out as well, smirking as a faint orange flow formed around the digital device. "I'm ready." The words aimed at Ken who had placed the laptop on the ground before them, pulling out his own D3 as he stood up and walked back to join them. "How about you Ken?"

Giving a nervous smile back, the former digimon emperor held out his dark colored D3, a gloomy light forming around in sharp contrast to the others. "All set here."

Arriving with her D3 out, Kari smirked as she took her place in the small group, her pink colored digital device glowing with her power. "I think we're all ready."

Nodding in agreement, TK just held out his digivice as well, his face harsh as he felt the faint cry from Shakkomon as he entered the battler with Babamon.

As the last two, Yolie and Cody held out their digivices, the purple haired girl silent for once as she watched a faint outline of light forming around her D3. "Cody?"

Ignoring the light around his D3, the youngest digi destined simply gave all of his attention to the laptop, his eyes narrowing as he began to feel something, a shift in his D3, as if it had grown tired of waiting for the call to fully open the gate rather just keep it active and on standby. "Just do it."

Nodding at the confirmation from all of them, Tai gazed down at his D3, hoping that what he had suggested earlier when leaving to save the world. "Digital gate, I beg of you, bring to this world, the sovereign digimon, Baihumon!" Yelling out the name as he pushed forward his D3 an extra bit, he all but scream out the next three words. "Digital Gate, open!"

And besides him, he could hear the other repeat it, their cry for the gate to open matching his perfectly as each of the more advanced digivices erupted with light, the power of them blinding as the gate swung fully open.

The light great enough to even unnerve Jun Motomiya as she gazed at the spectacle from her place, her attention drawn away from the battle between Blackwargreymon and Malomyotismon long enough to see the digimon emerge from the gate, his body towering up over all of them as he hovered within the light. "It, it can't be."

Then the roar came from him, and she felt her body fall to its knees as the glowing eight orbs around his body glowing even brighter then the gates. "Baihumon, it is you."

As the light reached it apex, three arrow like streams shot out, each one dividing in time to impact each digivice in perfect sync, the light fading as a long awaiting high pitched tone reached them along with Baihumon's parting roar, the gate closing as fast as it had opened.

* * *

Deflecting a laser beam with a bored expression, Deamon held out his free hand and sent a stream of fire towards Wargreymon as he fought back the urge to simply end it now. "You fools, you can't stop me, let alone what's coming." Lifting up both hands as a massive sea of fire formed above them, he froze as he spotted the new digimon below, the first real show of fear reaching him as he recognized him. "No, it can't be, they are gone!"

Smirking as he saw the perfect opening, Wargreymon took full advantage of the opening leveling a vicious uppercut onto Deamon's face, the force snapping the dark digimons head back. "It can be, the old guy told us to call him for help, and well, we decided to give him call just for your sake."

Recovering as he floated backwards, Deamon's eyes glowing brightly purple as he flung out one arm, a massive wave of fire streaking out to impact Wargreymon head on. "A good plan, however, he can't leave the gate, it not big enough for him, besides."

Grabbing Imperialdramon as he tired to bite him, the demonic digimon chuckled as he flung the dragon digimon away from. "He can't save you, Gulfmon will grant me the ultimate power at my command, and then you and all the others, will die." Moving to attack again, he stopped as a new light flared up. "Now what?"

Across from him, Imperialdramon hovered silently as he felt more power flow into him, his battle worn body regaining it strength as he felt all his injuries fading as light began to flow in around him. "Imperialdramon, mode change too." The words coming from him even as his body shrunk down in size, his dragon like body changing to a more humanoid one, his laser cannon becoming to a wrist mounted one. "Fighting mode."

Hovering calmly in the air, Deamon growled as he began to gather up fire. "Fool, so what if you gained some extra power, it still won't help you." letting lose with a stream of fire, he merely raised an eyebrow as Imperialdramon didn't move, but merely hovered there silently. "Giving up are you, fine, Evil Inferno!"

* * *

Letting out a bloody scream as he impacted the side of a car more then just roughly, Silphymon could only utter out a weak protest as he felt shards of glass and plastic bite in through his muscles. "Please, please, stop this." His voice a whisper, he watched as Babamon simply kept on gazing down at him, her hair hiding the eyes he just knew held no mercy for any living thing. "You've won, stop hurting them."

Babamon let out a cold laugh as she gazed down from her standing point at the plea, her broom hovering loosely in one hand while she moved her attention back to the moaning digimon lying bruised and battered on the ground below her. "As if, you will both become sacrifices for the master, you hear me."

Head snapping back around, she growled as she waved her broom lightly through the air. "Gulfmon will destroy both worlds, and end everything, but power and digital data are needed to open a gateway." Moving forward, she hammered her broom down harshly, creating another crack in Shakkoumon's armor plating. "You two won't provide enough data, but combined with your friends and the power of all the humans in this city, it will work."

Face splitting apart with evil, she laughed as she began to rush forward, her broom held much like a samurais sword. "Now die, and help bring about the final destruction!"

Closing his eyes, Silphymon grunted as he got ready for the final blow, regret flowing through him at having failed the wish of his partner's. "Yolie, Kari, I'm."

"What?" The outcry from Babamon causing him to snap open his eyes and watched the old woman like digimon had stopped her attack and where staring upwards at something. "No, not that!"

Even before she had yelled out the last word, Silphymon had already understood what was happening as a beam of light had already impacted his body, a warm feeling spreading through as all of his wounds healed. "I, i can feel it." Ripping lose from the webbing, he laughed as he felt even more power then before flow into him. "Silphymon digivolves too-"

Gaining a more streamline body as the first thing, Silphymon felt his lower bird like body half turning into more human like legs, while white with red tipped feathered wings grew out from his back, his visor reforming into a eagle like helmet with blond haired coming out it's back.

At the same time, his body turned completely white and his armor became more stylized with iron wrist bands forming on his human like arms, a blue sash wrapping around his hips as two belt looped around on top of it, one with a sheath with a sword in it on his left hip, and the other one with a quiver with arrows in it, and a simple leather strap holding a crossbow on his right hip.

The whole thing finishing as twin gold hawks flew down and landed on his wrist bands. "Valkyrimon!"

Babamon, watching the newly evolved digimon with fear, felt her courage fade even more as a second beam of light shot down from above, this one hitting the digimon behind her. "Shakkoumon, digivolves too." The three words causing her to whimper as she turned see the large digimon standing up while getting covered in light.

Shakkoumon's transformation doing the most changes as his whole armored tea pot like body turned into a more Zudomon like one completely covered in white fur, a horned helmet forming in his head as a massive fur cape formed on his back, a three clawed hand and arm serving to hold it in place as two shield like shoulder ornaments formed as well.

On top of the fur cape, twin axes formed, both of them larger then then one of his massive fists, with a ragged, dark red loincloth ending the transformation. "Vikemon!"

Giving her best excuse me look, Babamon began to step further backwards, until she noticed Valkyrimon level his sword at her, the gold hawks flying next as they gave off a shrill cry of attack. "Empress Haze!"

"Viking Axe!"

Moving to avoid the massive weapon, Babamon barely had time to scream as Valkyrimon's sword pressed its way out through her stomach, the weapon glinting in the air as a thin ice coating spread across Babamon's body, her movements growing slower with each second. "Goodbye forever, Arukenimon." Ripping it back out, the warrior of light turned to gaze down towards the battle ground, a cold frown on his face. "The others need us, we have to hurry."

Behind her, Vikemon simply glanced down to see Babamon's horrified expression as her body continue to freeze over, a soft sound coming from him as she reached down and picked up the small digimon. "For what's its worth, we're sorry." Then he close dup his fist and fully crushed the small digimon, feeling her data flow off into the air through his fingers as he ended her pain. "Valkyrimon, go ahead, we'll catch up."

Taking flight, Valkyrimon simply nodded as he flew off, his golden hawks following him through the air, while Vikemon continue to run as fast as he could, one axe held in his right hand as he could see the approaching battle in the sky above him. "TK, Cody, we did it, the people should be safe now."

As he spoke, the web formed by Arukenimon slowly began to dissolved, the humans trapped inside coughing as they were freed from their cocoons.

* * *

He had seen better days, that much was sure even to himself mused Blackwargreymon was he found his left gauntlet literally falling apart, the bizarre mixture of hot and cold darkness unleashed by Malomyotismon tearing through them. "You don't belong here, you died."

Smirking as he moved closer, Malomyotismon gazed down at the proud digimon warrior with a superior smirk on his face. "To think that you would say that, you're not even a digimon, you're the one who doesn't belong anywhere." Hammering both arms into the ground, he grinned as he was now face to face Blackwargreymon. "She did real well in creating you, Arukenimon can be proud of herself, real proud."

Eyes nearly glowing with evil, a massive laugh escaped him as he began to open his shoulder cannons. "It just as a shame really, I had intended to use her and that rag doll Mummymon as tests for my new form." Feeling red light forming in the mouths of his other heads, he smirked coldly. "But now that you're here, I can use you!"

Rather enraged by the comments from the massive demon lord digimon, Blackwargreymon clenched up his left hand. "I feel sick knowing that I really owe my life to you." Moving his head to face the glowing shoulder heads, he gave a small sigh as he began to tense. "But it's still not enough to make me want to give up fighting, Mega Claw!"

Lashing out with his right hand gauntlet, Blackwargreymon watched as the three dagger claws tore across the right side of Malomyotismon's face, digging three long groves into his flesh and eye, the massive digimon screaming and he pulled back a split second too late, the gauntlet torn up with him and falling off as he stumbled backwards.

Flying backwards from the sudden movement of Malomyotismon, Blackwargreymon smirked widely, the demon lord digimon having left himself wide open. "Terra Destroyer!" Something which he took full advantage off as he sent a massive blast of raw destructive power right into his opponent's armored stomach and chest, sending him completely down onto his back. "So strong, yet beaten to easily, you're not worthy of my time old man."

Growling in raw fury, the massive demon lord digimon roared out as he sent out a shockwave of pure darkness, sending Blackwargreymon flying backwards as well. "You, I shall tear you apart myself." Rolling over and standing up, Malomyotismon stared across the distance with his one good eye, pure murder on his mind. "Now die!"

Snapping open both shoulder heads, the red glow from before return with a vengeance as he let out a scream of triumph, his hands digging into the ground one more. "Crimson Mist!"

Looking up, Blackwargreymon cursed as he saw everything melting as the red fog spread across it, the pavement running away as well, the stuff powerful enough to even melt the right hand gauntlet lying between him and Malomyotismon. "Great."

"Fenrir Sword" The cry coming from above as a white and blue blur shot over Blackwargreymon, followed by a massive gust of cold winds and snow raining down on him and the street, both freezing and pushing back the crimson mist at the same time. "Myotismon, this time, we will settle our score for good."

Facing down his new opponent, Malomyotismon frowned at first, and then slowly smirked as he recognized part of the voice, his cold grin growing as he kept his good eye on him. "My pet, you've changed again, but to no use, I am stronger then ever, you can't win anymore then your old wizard friend could."

Moving one hand up from the ground, he pointed at the battle above. " Alone, I may be defeated, but with him on my side now, you don't stand a chance." lowering down his face, he grinned at the humanoid digimon before him. "Join me Gatomon, you can still be forgiven for your past betrayal, and together we can."

Ending his rant by lashing out with his sword, Valkyrimon held out his sword, its tip pointing right at the demon lord digimon's good eye. "I'll never join you, never." Shooting up into the air, the warrior digimon did a quick loop and hovered silently in midair. "For Wizardmon, and everyone else you have used, I shall kill you once and for all, Fenrir Sword!"

"Then you shall die as well." Spitting out the words as a mini blizzard enveloped him; Malomyotismon used his sheer size and bulk to slowly advance forward, his shoulder mouths opening up one more. "Die fool, Screaming Darkness!" Twin spheres of darkness shooting out through the blizzard and right towards his opponent. "And as for."

The rest of his sentence lost as a massive punch hit him right in the lower jaw, Blackwargreymon returning to the fight once more as he ignored the blizzard around him. "Just shut and die." Flying upwards as well, he held up both hands as raw and deadly power surged in between his fingers, part of the blizzard getting sucked in along with the power. "Terra Destroyer!"

Ripping a nice sized hole into the road with the attack, Blackwargreymon enjoyed the look of horror and fear on Malomyotismon's face as he was thrown backwards, his body tumbling over end before finally stopping right before hitting the TV Station.

Looking up, the demon lord digimon froze as he saw another figure emerge, this one larger then all the others put together, and in one hand, he held the biggest axe he had ever seen. "Impossible, this can't be, I have always been meant to rule, always, it is my destiny."

Pushing himself up again, he looked upwards, and seeing his unwanted allied fighting above, he swallowed all of his pride and did the one thing he had never expected himself to ever do. "Deamon, get down here, I need your help!" Called out for help, going against everything he had ever thought about himself, the all powerful Myotismon, ruler of everything, now reduced to a mere helpless digimon.

Someone would die for this, and hopefully, not him.

* * *

High above the battle ground, Deamon raised a single eyebrow as Malomyotismon's call for help reached him, a small delight filling from the humbled tone of voice the demon lord digimon had used to call for him giving him a sense of superiority. "Malomyotismon, you said you were so powerful."

Avoiding the combined attacks of Wargreymon and Imperialdramon, the demonic digimon cast an unconcerned look downwards as fire formed around his hands. "You're pitiful." Sending out a wave of fire, Deamon chuckled as he rose upwards, keeping a close eye on the two megas moving again to intercept him. "But you will serve me one last time as a distraction, while I leave to claim my ultimate power!"

Sending one massive pillar of fire downwards, he laughed as he watched his two opponents break off their attack, moving instead to stop him from hurting their friends. "You win for now digi destined, but trust me, the next time, I shall destroy you all."   
Flying upwards as fast he could, he began to focus on his powers of darkness, reaching out to feel where the barrier between the worlds had been breached before. "Gulfmon, it's time for our deal to be completed." Reaching out, he forced all of his strength into tearing up the small entrance left behind by the digi destined when they had returned to fight the dark masters.

His eyes narrowing as he felt the wall crack far to easy, almost as if someone had been helping him open it, but he dismissed it as a mere misjudgment of his own strength as the gate finally opened, showing the insides of Piedmon's old throne room, and his partner standing there with his back to him. "Gulfmon!"

Stepping through the portal, he ignored the second cry for help, all his thoughts purely on obtaining what should be his.

* * *

On the ground, Malomyotismon watched in fear, and anger as the one who had claimed they would rule the worlds as a team just left him behind. True, he had planned to become even stronger and kill Deamon off, but he was supposed to stay here and destroy the digi destined for him, so he could destroy him when he was weak from the fight.

"Damn you Deamon." Spitting out the curse, the massive demon lord digimon turned back to see another digimon moving towards him, this one towering up over everything else in sight, and if he wasn't sure he had drained that foolish human of all his power, he was sure that it was Zudomon. "Traitor, when we meet again, I shall kill you with my own hands."

Feeling his power flow through him, the demon lord digimon stood up slowly, his shoulder heads opening slowly as power grew in their jaws. "I will not be denied my destiny, Screaming Darkness!" Unleashing a massive wave of darkness, he laughed as he watched Blackwargreymon vanish into it. "Yes, die and give me your power!"

Then a bloody red light formed as the darkness drained away, drawn into a rapidly growing sphere in the dinosaur man like digimon's hands, his eyes glowing as he took a step forward. "Fool, you may have created me but you can't destroy me, Terra Destroyer!" Flinging the sphere of combined darkness and negative energy forward, he barely seemed to care that he flung Malomyotismon even further down the street. "You will die here, you are simply not a worthy opponent, father."

Touching down the ground besides Blackwargreymon, Valkyrimon held out his sword, a bluish light gleaming off it's silver surface. "He will die here, for all of his crimes." Returning the sword to his sheath, the warrior digimon calmly pulled lose his crossbow. "It ends now, Myotismon, forever."

Behind them, Vikemon simply held up his axe as he stared down at the evil digimon before him, power growing inside of him as he felt the air grow colder around him. "Yes, your evil dies tonight"

Snarling, Malomyotismon didn't get far before two more digimons joined the fight, Imperialdramon and Wargreymon simply gazing at him as they landed on the ground. "Fools, I hadn't expected you to be so strong." Gazing around at each of them, he slowly rose up both of his arms. "But it won't matter if you destroy me, I'll still come back again."

Lowering his eyes, he snapped both arms completely up into the air, aiming them at Deamon's gate far above, his eyes glowing as he reached out towards it. "Everyone with a speck of darkness in their heart can become my host, even one of your partners."

Smiling darkly, he began to advance on them. "It will take time, and with your friends a where of me, nearly impossible to completely any plans." Feeling his shoulder mouths opening again, he grinned as darkness flowed in around him. "But I will win in the end, the prophecies never lie, I shall cover the worlds in darkness. That is my destiny!"

* * *

"He's right." Ken mumbled out as he stood with the other digi destined, watching the battle before them. "As long as he's here in the real world, his data can't be banished or reset." Turning to face the other of the new digi destined, he looked ready to give up. "He'll just keep coming back, every single time we beat him"

Behind him, Izzy slowly looked up from where he was resting. "And we can't send him back to the digital world; it will just make him stronger." Looking down at the laptop he always had with him, he gave a sift sigh. "I just wish I could erase him live a normal virus on my computer."

Slowly lifting his head to stare up at the sky above, Davis grinned as he thought back at what the others had said. "So let's send him somewhere else."

"You can't be serious." Yolie snapped out as he stared at the younger, messy haired boy. "You're saying we should just send him off to be someone else's problem? Is that it?"

Managing to look more then just offended at that outburst, Davis turned to face her. "No, that's not what I'm saying, what I'm saying is that we should just."

Ending his sentence for him by grabbing him roughly, Yolie glared right into Davis eyes. "Listen to me will you, he's our problem, we should deal with him, not just throw him into someone else's life."

Lifting up his head, Ken slowly stared down at the newly erupted battle, a thought growing forth inside his head as he spun around to stare at them. "The Dark Ocean, Davis, you're a genius, we can send him to dark ocean, all we have to do is defeat him, and then send his soul through a gate into the dark ocean."

Facing him, Yolie gave him a dark look. "And how do we do that, I don't even know where this dark ocean is, let alone how to get there."

Taking on a more subdued expression as he was snapped at by the purple haired girl, he slowly looked down at his black colored D3. "But I know, I went there, when I became the digimon emperor, I opened a gate, with my digivice." Looking up at them, he did his best to seem confident about it. "And if you help me, I'm sure I can do it again."

* * *

TBC: Twilights hour part 2.

AN:

Ah, I officially hate work, I'm left far to tired by it to really work on anything lately, still, I managed to get this chapter spellchecked, three weeks after it was completed no less.

And yes, this time, I'm truly getting closer to the end, I foresee only two chapter left, with maybe an epiloge to end it with.

Hope no one dislikes the mega forms I chose for them.


	29. Part XXiX

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Summery: AU, very AU and dark, with mentioning of torture, violence and blood drinking.

* * *

Spawn of the vampire  
Twilights hour part 2.

* * *

Death for a digital being, Gennai thought, wasn't all it had been said it would be, then again, it could just be because he had been absorbed into the virus rather then become outright deleted. "Catherine, I trust you, please do what I couldn't, and maintain balance." So far the only good thing had been the loss of his digimon body, and the restoration of his old one.

"If only it could have been my younger form. "As he spoke, he gazed around place he had ended up in upon his death, a dark frown on his face as he still saw the same thing in every direction. "I'm getting to old for such things you know."

The sky above were curved and filled with utter darkness broken up by lines of red energy, faint screams from digimons reaching him as light bursts ripped through the red lines. "This is the center of the virus itself alright, the heart of darkness so to speak." Muttering out the phrase, Gennai turned to watch the rest of the place.

A small field of ash grey grassland filling out around him, and right in the center of it, were the one person he hadn't really expected to see when he was devoured. "Osamu" Stepping forward, he placed one hand onto the young boy curled up before him with his head held between his hands. "You must wake up, before it is too late."

"He can't hear you." The cold voice making the old man cringed as he looked up despite not wanting too, and finding himself face to face with a monster fit to be called a demon. "He doesn't want to wake up and see what he's become"

Facing down the monster before him, Gennai clenched up his right hand as he felt his anger overpower the sadness and pity he still felt for him and what they had done to him. "Haven't you done enough damage already Babel?" The words spat out at the 21 year old man grinning down at him, now warped even more from the boy curled up on the ground that he had once been.

His hair once a purple shade were now light red colored, with two horns jutting up through his forehead and angling back over his head. In his back, two dark feathered wings had grown out and were spread out behind him, while one of his arms had expanded and become a true copy of those that Gulfmon had, complete with a three fingered hand. "Am I so changed Gennai that you can't even stand to look at me anymore"

Laughing as no answer came; Babel lifted up one of his hands and licked it gently. "I supposed I should be, after all, I am the living darkness within that boy, mixed with Mephismon's data." Reaching down and patting Osamu on the head, he let out a snort of amusement. "That day, is so clear to me now."

Spreading out both arms as he laughed darkly, Babel stepped back and gazed up at the sky above him. "The day his crest with the power of the void allowed him to drag Mephismon into a pocket dimension for a final battle."

"It was also the same place where I was born from a mix between Osamu's body and the reborn data from Apocalymon." Laughing as he held out his hand, a small crest slowly grew fourth within. "Their battle that day was truly something to watch, Osamu's partner Taomon vs Mephismon."

Smiling as he clenched his human hand around the crest, he chuckled as he pulled it back out and wrapped it around his neck, his homemade digivice glowing from its place on his belt. "Mephismon lost, but he had one last trick left, unable to escape, he invaded Osamu's body with all of his digital data."

"And so I was born, Mephismon's darkness infected Osamu and drew out me, his shadow." Holding out his Gulfmon like hand, he grinned as he swung it through the air, darkness flowing from it. "I spent a month in that dark void, growing ever more powerful, suppressing little Osamu here."

Growing silent as he stared down at the crest around his neck, he let out a soft hiss. "My only regret about it is the loss of the crests power, all of it was used to free me, and afterward, it was useless." Stepping closer to Gennai, he reached down his Gulfmon arm and pattered Osamu's head. "Even his partner wouldn't follow me, so I had to delete him and ensure his reformatting would make him obey me."

"BlueMeremon." Gennai spat out the digimons name as he stood up. "You used Osamu's partner to create Bluemeramon, and with Minotarumon you caused Piedmon and the Dark Master's to be born!"

Laughing out loudly as he flung his head back, Babel slowly reduced it to a chuckling. "Yes, And Piedmon was my final triumph, he had the crest of void hidden inside him, and so when he was defeated, and banished through that portal, the first crack in the seal was made."

Allowing parts of the darkness to flow down around him, he grinned as he stared coldly at Osamu and Gennai. "The virus was my finest creation, you see, Mephismon couldn't use his powers, even if they were a part of me after our merger."

Growing an angry expression as he thought back on it, Babel lifted up his human hand and simply stared at it. "That's why I made the virus, to merge his soul with it and grant Mephismon a new body, the perfect body." Grinning darkly, he stepped forward once more and grabbed the front of Gennai's robe, lifting him up from the ground. "But Yagami and Motomiya got in the way, thanks to you!"

"And then you imprisoned Mephismon in that void again, sealing him away with the soverns power." Walking closer to the edge of the small plot of ground, Babel held out Gennai over the edge. "But now, Mephismon is back, he has a new body, he controls the virus, and with it, we shall become far more connected then ever."

Releasing Gennai and watching as the old man fell into the darkness below; he simply chuckled and looked upwards, towards the chaotic sky above. "When Deamon is absorbed, we'll use his body to become the first super mega digimon around!" Spreading out his hands, he watched as dark light poured in before him. "Yes, yes, come to me, dark powers of the void, show me the world outside."

"You made a mistaken, you know."

Turning around to glare down at the curled up Osamu, Babel snorted as he turned back to his window to the outside world, watching through Gulfmon's eyes. "How, no one can get in the way now, we have everything we need in place."

Giving a soft smile, Osamu let out a small chuckle as he lifted up his head to cast one look over his shoulder at Babel, a glint of rebellion growing within them. "Gennai, will escape from here and help stop us, I even know how he will be able to do it"

As he spoke, a soft multicolored glow formed around him as he stood up, one hand reaching out towards the crest around Babel's neck. "I will be the one to open the doorway out." As he spoke out, the crest of the void responded by exploding into a pillar of light, blowing away the darkness around them as light began to mix with the red strands. "I know you can hear me Gennai, please, tell them how sorry I am, and that I wish for them to succeed."

Roaring out in anger, Babel lifted up his Gulfmon hand and snarled insanely as darkness shot out from it, hammering it into Osamu and sending him flying backwards out over the edge of the small amount of digital land they had been on. "I won't fail, I am Babel, I am the greatest digi destined, the greatest evil, it is me and my partner who shall destroy everything, all must feel our pain, our suffering, everyone must feel what's it's like to have nothing left."

Lifting up one hand, he laughed as he forced the light away and it annoying presence, leaving alone in his little garden of darkness and evil. "Go my partner, and destroy them all." He just had to wait now, for moment when his partner stuck, when they got the final piece they needed to become the most powerful digimon.

And in that moment, they would do it; they would become one, a perfect merge, the most powerful digimon to ever live.

And when that happened, everyone would pay for his suffering.

* * *

"Screaming Darkness!" Sending out five rays of utter cold and dark, Malomyotismon kept laughing insanely as he pushed back every single one of the digimons, his insanity clear as he suddenly took of running, both arms raised up over his head with the clear intent of crushing his foes beneath him. "Die!"

Reacting far faster then he had expected, Valkyrimon darted off to the right, his sword already flashing through the air and sending sparks flying as it simply slid off the armor covering the demon lord digimon. "Myotismon, how far you have fallen, you're no better then the other insane megalomaniacal digimons we have defeated in the past."

Growling much like a beast, the massively evil digimon stood up, one arm pulled back as his let out a small grin. "But unlike them, I will never die! I will always return." Lashing out, he watched as a bigger hand closed around his arm, tearing him and tossing him down the street, Vikemon clearly intending to join the fight. "Give me your best shot; I shall survive it, no matter what you do!"

"Do shut up!" Blackwargreymon replied as he flew in over the tall digimon, red power glowing within his hands. "This is where it ends, once and for all, Terra Destroyer!" His attack nailed the demon lord digimon in the chest, grounding Malomyotismon in an instant as he dug a small hole into the roar. "And I will finally learn my answers!"

Rushing across the street, Wargreymon felt his own anger growing; dim memories from Blackgatomon flying through him as he remembered the past Tai had spoken off, how this digimon had once killed him. "And I will feel better, knowing that you will have been punished at last for your crimes."

Sparks flying through the air once more, Wargreymon slashed his claws through the blue eyed shoulder head, the head letting out it's own scream as it snapped down and shuddered, the scream mirrored by Malomyotismon as he knocked the mega digimon away from him.

"We all hate you, and wish for nothing more then your defeat." Ripping up the ground with a laser blast that had the demon lord digimon stumbling backwards, Imperialdramon landed on the ground, his eyes locked right onto Malomyotismon's only good eye. "And no matter what it takes, we will see you deleted tonight."

Towering up over him as he came up from behind, Vikemon grunted as he felt the coldness of the northern sea flow through him, his axe once more slung over his shoulder. "Arctic Blizzard!" Another local snow storm battering into Malomyotismon already damage body, freezing his joints and armor shut.

Mouth snapping out with a hate filled roar, Malomoytismon reached out for his powers of darkness, his remaining shoulder mouth snapping open to counter attack, or at least it should have, hadn't the freezing attack frozen it shut, preventing him from opening it. "No!"

Fear welling up in him as he failed to counter attack, MaloMyotismon could only stare in abject horror as the mega digimons gather around him, each of them glowing with their own power as they struck. Digizoid metal claws and Axe hammering into his armor, followed by a laser and negatively charged energy that burnt through the hurt area, weakening him as he fell down.

And then he was there, hovering above him with his unreadable face, one had reaching down and freeing his crossbow. "it over at last." Speaking softly, he lifted the crossbow and pulled out an arrow from the holster. "This is for Wizardmon, Tai, and everyone else you have ever hurt."

Lifting the arrow up over his head, the twin golden hark like creatures that had formed with him shot down, each one glowing brightly as they turned into a golden colored light that merged with the arrow. "Aurvandil's Arrow!" the attack fired off at close range, and aimed right towards the heavily damaged part of his armor.

The golden light ripping through the very damage that had formed from the other attacks, tearing into his heart and burning it to digital ash, sending pain like he had never dreamt of rushing out from it, burning every part of him as his death cry filled the air.

Moving back in shock, Valkyrimon, Vikemon, Wargreymon, Blackwargreymon and Imperialdramon stared as the still screaming head of Malomyotismon ripped apart, arcs of golden light tearing up from the neck opening of his armor and out from the arrows impact zone, the left over armor standing still for a whole second, before falling over as well.

Lowering his bow, Valkyrimon stared downwards at the left over armor of his enemy. "It's over, it's finally over." Landing on the ground as he spoke, he sighed and closed his eyes. "Wizardmon, you can finally rest in peace now."

"Idiot, I already told you" Laughing as each of the five digimons turned to face the broken armor, a blue colored light began to glow around it, slowly forming into a shimmering image of Myotismon in his ultimate stage. "You can never destroy me; I am the one who will bring the endless darkness to the worlds."

Hovering upwards, he chuckled as he began to approach them. "It will be hard, but I will start over, I will find another to possess, someone to use as I see fit." Chuckling as he hovered closer to Valkyrimon, he left over an ever bigger one as the warrior digimon's sword passed right through him. "That won't work on me now, in fact, you could become my new body at this very moment, or I could choose Imperialdramon, or that boy Ken, maybe even Kari or someone else, anyone of you can become my new body."

Laughing insanely as he began to move towards the mega digimons, he stopped as he noticed the seven humans stepping fourth from direction of the TV station. "Hmm, you have come just in time children, now witness as I take one of your digimons as my new bodies!" Erupting into a sickening laughter again, he began to spread out his body, slowly turning into a glowing blue ball with red eyes. "I will triumph at last."

Racing towards The mega digimons, he stopped as they kept staring at him with utter calm, the same look mirrored by the human children as they kept walking forward. "What, refusing to admit that you have lost?" Turning to regard the digimons, he lost his cool as he saw them just as they had been when he looked away. "Didn't you hear me, I will take over one of you, and if you destroy him, I will take over another one-"

"You won't get the chance." The reply from Ken cutting through his rant, the boy stopping just beyond the area where the armor of the demon lord digimon still lay, his eyes showing nothing but pure determination. "I no longer fear the darkness, I have accepted who I once was, and together with my friends your evil ends now."

Facing the digi destined once more, a deep fear spread through him as he saw the laptop held by Davis and Ken, Yolie, Cody, Kari and TK standing behind the two boys and offering their help and strength as the two boys opened it, the seventh of them, Tai, staring up at him with utter coldness. "What are you fools doing?"

The answer to his question coming in the form of a dark portal opening up behind him, a ghostly wing starting to blow towards it. "A dark portal, so, you want to banish me into that world of darkness do you, well, it won't work, just give up and surrender!" Reforming his Myotismon like ghost body, he clenched up both hands. "The prophecies state that I am-" His rant interrupt as the wind kicked up, dirt and parts of his armor getting pulled towards the portal as he found himself dragged backwards as well. "-No, you can't do this!"

Eyes fully open, Ken faced the evil digimon soul as it struggled against the pull of the gateway. "Yes we can, I'm not afraid of you, and I'm not your tool anymore." Trusting out the laptop, he roared out in anger as the glow of the portal increased. "I am not afraid of you!"

Letting out a true scream of fear and anger, Myotismon struggled as hard as he could, but still felt the portal's glow envelope him, drawing him into the world of darkness beyond it. "No, I won't!" Then silence reigned as the portal closed, its glow fading away slowly, leaving the street cloaked in darkness.

Holding the lap top as he closed it, Ken breathed out a small breath of relief as he felt all his tensions and concern fade away. "It's over."

"No." Turning his head to face Davis, he saw the messy haired boy gazed up at the sky above, and the dark digimon hovering above them, fire flowing across his body as a digital gate began to form in the sky. "We still need to beat Deamon and Gulfmon."

Stepping forward as well, Tai stared up at the still open digital gate in sky with an equally concerned expression. "And this time, we won't have any help from the Sovereign digimons." As he spoke, Tai looked back at the digimon who had digivolved with the help of Baihuman, each of them staring up at the sky. "Gulfmon was born from the virus, and through it, he can corrupt anything he desires to grant him what he wants."

"And he wants what we have, the darkness he gave us." Jun added in as she stepped out from the shadows, her hair even more messy and unruly as she took in a few deep breaths of air. "But more then that Yagami, how can we even face them, Babel wanted to redo everything, Gulfmon wants to destroy everything."

Davis grunted as he lowered his gaze back down. "Deamon, as powerful as he is, is still only the lesser evil here." His eyes closing as he recalled the few battles with the demon lord digimon. "He just wants to rule everything, if he finds out what Gulfmon wants; he'll turn on him in an instant."

"I'm afraid it's too late for that."

Snapping their heads around, the digi destined and digimons stared straight ahead as a old man slowly began to emerge from the armor of Malomyotismon, a sad smile on his face as he had his arm and hands crossed behind his back. "I am sorry it took so long, but it was hard to find my way out, and even coming here through the gate was nearly impossible."

"Gennai." The name spoken softly by Davis, the messy haired young boy took a step forward. "But how, you left to fight, I thought you, Catherine said you were-"

"-Deleted" Gennai finished for the boy as his smile changed into a serious frown. "In a way I am Davis, in a way I am."

Sighing deeply, Gennai gazed at each of the children and their digimons partners, lingering on each of them. "I am proud of you know, you have done so much for us, saved us, that it hurts me to say this." Lifting his eyes, he focused on Tai and Jun as he began to move forward. "But to win this battle, only you two can go."

* * *

Face downcast, Gulfmon stood completely still in front of his castle, the emotions of his knights reaching him from the earth itself. "Deamon, your usefulness to me is over; no longer can anyone stop me." Lifting his head, he smirked even as he felt Malomyotismon's scream of death through the link with the demon lord digimons virus created body. "The end is here at last."

Looking up, he gazed right at the approaching Deamon, the demon lord digimon having landed on the edge of the mass of control towers, virus streams and darkness itself. "Well met, I take it you're here for your reward?" Speaking softly, he watched as Deamon kept walking forward. "I don't care if you defeated them or not, all that matters is that one threat is gone."

Stopping his forward march, Deamon crossed his arms as he cast a short look around at the castle, making sure to keep Gulfmon within his field of view at all times. "Gulfmon, you have gone ahead with your plan I see." Keeping his voice level and calm, Deamon nodded towards the dark sky above, a cold wind whipping past him. "I can feel the darkness covering everything."

Turning away a bit, Gulfmon stared into the flashing sky as a bolt of lighting ripping down from it. "Yes, I have called fourth the darkness, and now, the digital world is dying." Facing Deamon, Gulfmon allowed a cold smile to flicker across his face. "As I have always wanted it too."

Lifting up his hands, he began to call up his own powers of darkness, allowing it to slowly slither down his wrists and arms, shielding them from sight. "I hate this world, with it's creatures of light, those who were allowed to live, those who never had to suffer in the void, those who were never locked away."

"Those who were never deemed worthless and made to suffer in the alone in the darkness." Lowering his arms and hammering them into the rock and control spire surface, his laughed as cracks spread out from him, darkness and virus flowing out through them. "I shall take everyone with me; you will all die, before I do!"

Eyes narrowing, Deamon snapped out a hand as fire erupted from it, impacting Gulfmon right in the face and chest, heat and smoke whipping out along with the smell of burnt flesh. "You insane fool, did you really think i would allowed this, I shall rule everything as a dark god."

Holding out his other hand and willing up even more fire, he laughed as he completely engulfed his foe in a sea of white hot death. "Now die, die and fade away." Cutting off his attack, he kept staring right ahead as he watched the fire still burning high into eth dark sky. "Your power will now become mine."

"Such a simple creature." Blasting the fire away with a wave of darkness, Gulfmon stared right into the eyes of Deamon, his mouth opening as he began to laugh. "You are powerful Deamon, I never doubted that, and that is why I chose you." Stepping forward, he lifted up his left hand as more darkness flowed out from it. "But truth be told, there was one more reason why Babel and I decided to accept a team up with you."

Remaining calm as his enemy spoke, Deamon slowly began to summon up more fire, wrapping himself up in it. "The human, the one who were nothing more then an insane hybrid?" As he spoke, Deamon slowly began to form twin spheres of white hot fire in his hands, waiting for Gulfmon to come just a bit closer to him. "What does he have to do with all of this?"

Halting his advancement, Gulfmon watched Deamon carefully, still wrapped in his own darkness to counter the fire and heat from his opponent. "Actually, I'm sure you must have guessed it, after all, you were there when I took him into myself, and was resurrected from the part within him.

Lifting one hand, he smirked as he drew back the darkness and virus parts of him, allowing the outline of a human hand to form in his place. "When the digi destined Osamu battled the digimon Mephismon, he won and took the data of the evil digimon into himself to survive."

"But Osamu miscalculated, his failed to understand that he had evil within himself, anger, rage and despair at a world who only liked him for his intelligence." Still speaking, Gulfmon lowered his head a bit as his darkness began to seep into the ground below him. "Mephismon and his dark mind of hated for the digital world merged with Osamu's evil and loathing of the human world, giving birth to a being of absolute hated, someone who wanted both worlds destroyed.

Laughing as he began to poured more darkness into the ground, Gulfmon kept watched Deamon. "But, while they became one, I was born, the digital data of Mephismon became me, I have all of his memories, all of his hate and anger, but I am also the partner digimon of Babel."

Slowly removing his shield of darkness, Gulfmon chuckled as he watched Deamon closely, the demon lord digimon showing no change at all over his little revelation. "But I was useless as a partner digimon without a body, all I could do was talk to Babel, not defend him, or carry out our vengeance against all, so he set about creating one for me, using Osamu partner digimon, BlueMeramon, and a Minotarumon, corrupted by Apocalymon's presence, but fate stuck and my data was mostly sealed away, my mind nearly broken, but I won, and stayed at my place within Babel, waiting for the right moment."

"Those other humans." Deamon spoke out as he watched Gulfmon, his mind running at full power as he took in this new information, keeping a close eye on the digimon before him, wary of the sudden change in tactics he was using. "Babel couldn't come here, nor could I, so he used them."

Nodding, Gulfmon laughed softly as he fully removed his shield of darkness. "When I created Arukenimon and Chimeramon, I showed you that I can create bodies, I simply created two to posses Yagami and Motomiya, twisting them into copying Babel's changes, and vampiric nature, but they were not perfect, and I needed a body, so when we found you, we knew we had found what we wanted."

Lashing downwards his with his hands, Gulfmon laughed as the cracks in the ground ripped wide open, all the darkness he had poured into the ground erupting back up around both them, Deamon roaring in anger as his fire was blown away. "You are the last piece of the puzzle, your super mega form will be the perfect body for me to use as I destroy all of the worlds!"

Screaming out in anger as the virus itself attacked him, Deamon tried to burn his way out as one tentacle of darkness after another shot out from the gouges to entrap him. "Fool, I am the mighty Deamon, none can stand in my way, it is I who is destined to-" The rest lost as the virus wrapped around his head, one tendril covering his right arm, and spreading quickly.

Laughing wildly and insanely, Gulfmon began to advance, his body breaking apart to reveal the virus below. "You should have understood when I used the virus to bring back Myotismon, and allowed him to evolve to the mega level."

Flowing across the ground to join the rest of the virus, Gulfmon let out one more chuckle as he felt the other digimons futile resistance as he began to envelope him. "Your powers joined with mine will make me invincible throughout the worlds, the virus will corrupt all who would stand against me, and together we shall envelope everything in complete darkness, death and destruction."

"Together, we shall end it all!"

As he spoke the last sentence, the virus mixed with the very darkness itself shot out to form an egg shaped shield around them, hardening within seconds to form a smooth, jet black surface that sucked the very light away from around it.

"And I will have my revenge at last."

* * *

On Earth, Gennai lifted his head and gazed upwards with a concerned look. "It's happening, the two are becoming one, and darkness will fill the worlds." Lowering his head, he gazed right towards Tai and Jun once more. "The virus and the control tower serve as his base and power source."

Looking back down at the armor on the ground, he grunted as it began to shimmer, slowly returning to a liquid state as the virus and darkness reformed, and changed into a tall, spiral shaped spire reaching for the digital gate above. "He's connecting the worlds."

"But why?" TK questioned as he stepped fourth, eyes narrowed as he watched the spiral spire turning solid, it's surface as jet black as that of a normal control tower. "What can he do with it anyway?"

Hiving off a soft hum as he listened to the questions, Gennai sighed softly once more. "Babel and Gulfmon share a deep hatred, and a wish to see their worlds destroyed." Waving his hand towards the spiral shaped spire, the old digital human watched as it began to glow with an eerie purple light. "This one, much like Ken's control towers will disrupt balance, cancel out the digivolutions of digimons, and will force the gate to open-"

Pointing upwards as he talked, Gennai pointed out the gate above as it began to shiver and grow in size, several purple light streams falling down from it. "-Into a much larger one, you must understand that both worlds are huge, and even with their combined power, they can't destroy it on their own."

"They will use the worlds to do so." Ken muttered out as he watched the gate grow, dimly noting that some of the purple light streams began to turn into more of those spiral shaped spires. "They plan to send the digital world crashing into the earth!"

Nodding wisely at the young genius outburst, Gennai turned to regard Tai and Jun. "And that's why, it's all up to you, the virus will attack digimons, corrupting them into savage beasts, but you two have the virus in a dormant stage, and that is what will save us today."

Holding out his hands, Gennai gave a soft smile as twin glows formed above his hands, shaping into two crest like objects that hover transparently before him. "Sadly, I have to say that there is a prize to pay, the virus will have to become active again, and it will try to take over your bodies again, turning you back into what you once were."

Ignoring everyone but Tai and Jun, Gennai slowly held out the crest like objects. "Now, these two will merge with you D3's in order to start it, but to turn the virus into a vaccine, you will have to overcome it's influence completely, and force into becoming what you want it be."

The statement leaving Tai and Jun speechless as they watched the crests move towards their digital devices, light flaring up from each one as the glowing crests hit the screen, pain flashing through them a second later, their bodies feeling like fire had begun to spread through them.

And then, everything faded away.

* * *

Frowning as she stared down at the digital world, Catherine, the new leader of the guardians found herself shredding a tear as darkness and virus warped the lands, digimons attacking digimon in pure rage. "This, this is."

"Ragnarok." Orgemon responded as he crossed his arms, facing the pure chaos with a dark expression on his face. "The final battle if you will."

Her confusion at the strange word, fading, Catherine nodded as she remembered it. "Like the Armageddon? You think it's the end of the world?"

"It could be." Above them, Azulongmon curled up a bit more as he allowed himself to enter their conversation. "Then again, it could also just be the end of a battle begun long ago."

Turning back from the four destiny stones, Baihumon nodded as he focused on the dark sky above them, and the sight of the fortress rising up into the sky. "Whatever it is, it will change everything."

Replying as she returned her gaze to the digital world below, Catherine felt her crest around her neck, staring down at as she held it up. "But will it be for the better?"

Looking up as she spoke, Catherine found the growing digital gate easily, all of Tokyo visible through it already. "One thing's for certain, everyone will know about this place now."

* * *

Opening his eyes, Tai coughed as if he just spent too much time under water, his mind foggy and pounding lightly as he rolled over onto his stomach. "I am never doing such a thing again." Pushing himself up, Tai frowned as he felt the familiar cape on his back, his uniform from long ago coming into view as he looked down in shock. "No way."

Standing up completely, he couldn't help the gasp that left him as he faced the sight before him, the castle he had once lorded over while serving Babel, it stood tall and undamaged before him, the army of digimons he had gathered crowed before the outside walls it in a waiting manner.

And laying on the ground before them, where the battered and bruised bodies of Kari and Matt, their eyes staring up at him with fear, and next to them, that boy Cody, Izzy, Yolie and even Sora, just as hurt as his sister and Matt. "Wha, what's going on here?"

"An execution." The cold voice sending shivers through him like an ice cube down his back did, his head turning around on its own accord to make him face the one behind him. "You're just in time too, I heard Jun got the other survivors, but really, it's not like I care about her."

Pushing his way past Tai, and walking over to stand at the battlement, he stared down at the digimons below. "So, do you want to give the order, or should I?" Smiling darkly, the figure looked coldly at Tai as he flung his own cape back over his shoulders. "We're the same you know? But to make it easy on you, I'm Taichi, second in command to lord Babel, the supreme ruler of the Digital World and Earth."Stepping back, Tai wanted nothing more then deny what he had just hard, but found it hard to do as he stared right into his own face, but a twisted one, one that had red eyes, sharper fangs and claws then he had ever had, in fact, this, Taichi had all the vampire like traits he had used to have. "Who? What are you?"

Smirking as he lifted up one hand, Taichi gave a sharp salute by banging his fist onto his left chest. "I'm you, the one who followed Babel to the end." Smirking as he pointing a finger over Tai's shoulder, he chuckled. "And unlike you, I never let her win."

Turning around, Tai felt bile rise up in his throat as he found himself facing Mimi and Catherine, the two girls hurt far more then the others. "What, what are you doing?"

Stepping up next to him, Taichi planted one hand on Tai's shoulder, his eyes narrowing as he reached down and pulled up harshly on Mimi's grime filled hair. "These two conspired together, and tried to make me fall from my grace; my sister wanted me dead and left me to be killed by Myotismon. They are all guilty of having tried to hurt me, and must pay for it"

"But as you know, Babel saved me, he gave me a second chance, I owe him, and these two, wanted to make me, us, betray him and the promise we made."

Eyes cold as ice, Taichi violently released the pink loving girl's hair, sending her downwards with a whimper. "They deserve to die, and they will, right after this."

Snapping his fingers, Taichi chuckled as Tai spun around, the sound of screams reaching him as several flashes of light lit up the air, the messy haired boy lowering his head as he didn't need to look over the side of the wall to know his sister and the others had been.

Killing the thought before it could be finished; Tai whirled on his counter part, glaring death at him. "That was Kari, Sora, I had friends down there."

"No." The reply came from Taichi as he spun around, one hand curled up around his D3 as his eyes narrowed. "They were the enemy; they came here, to kill us." Snapping out a finger, he pointed it right at Mimi and Catherine. "And they lead them here, our queen, let them in, and she, the blond haired one killed Blackgatomon."

Reaching out and grasping him, Taichi stared right into his eyes, the red in his own almost glowing as he forced Tai to face him head on. "They must pay, the traitor, and the murderess, they must pay." Then contact was broken, but the hold not, as Taichi lifted up his hands and a two hand held sword gleamed in the sudden blood red light coming from the sky above them. "They must pay." And the blade descended.

Turning around with sudden twist as the blade struck, Tai did his best to ignore the scream from Catherine, before he felt like puking as it was replaced by two dull thuds, and a soft rolling sound. "You, you bastard." Tai knowing that the blond girl had just been beheaded by this, twisted version of him

Grinning as he lifted the bloody sword once more, Taichi chuckled as he cast a quick look over at Tai, his eyes glowing as he forced the other messy haired boy to face the scene. "Heh, maybe, you would like to be doing this instead?" Voice cold, Taichi moved his sword into position. "Then again, how can I refuse this?"

Roaring in anger, Tai couldn't look away as Mimi screamed as light gleamed of the bloody sword, then he shuddered as she grew silent, her body falling down as her head landed before his feet, next to Catherine's.

"Now, only one remains." Turning to face him completely, Taichi released whatever it was that held Tai, allowing him to stumble forward a single step. "It's your turn now; all Traitors to Babel must die after all." Lifting the sword, he let out a small chuckle. "And afterwards, I shall lead Babel's armies to victory over them all."

Staring down at Mimi and Catherine's heads, Tai felt rage boil in him, His head lifting up as Taichi finished talking, the sword held out over him. "You." The word spoken with more venom then anything else he had ever said before. "You will die!"

Then he lashed out, catching the other messy haired boy off guard, sending him backwards along with the sword. "I will kill you for this." Punching wildly, Tai enjoyed every second of it as he sent the other him backwards, the wall reaching them in seconds, along with one final punch that sent his evil half flying into the brick work.

Slowly turning, Tai looked down as he felt the cold feel of metal in his hands, the sword gleaming as he clenched up his other hand around it, lifting it up over his head. "Die!"

And the blade fell.

But never hit, as a large gauntlet with dagger like claws intercepted it, holding the blade back easily. "You are the one who must die." Using his superior strength to push the blade back, Wargreymon glared down at the mockery of his partner before him, rage flooding him as the memories from Blackgatomon flowed through him. "You, you're nothing more then everything we hated about the old Tai!"Following through with all of his power, Wargreymon sent Taichi flying through the air, and right out over the wall, the dark clone screaming as he vanished into the courtyard. "And stay down." Turning to face Tai, Wargreymon grinned as he saw the boy smiling at him. "I know, I shouldn't be here, but I am, now, let's finds this virus and."

"Don't bother, I'm right here." Smirking as he hovered back up over the wall, Taichi chuckled as he began to melt, slowly reforming into a familiar looking form. "I am the darkness of Babel, the missing part of Gulfmon, and you two, will die by my hand!"   
Laughing as he slammed into the stone flooring, the new figure chuckled as he stood up in his full height, a dark blue hood covering his skull like head and upper chest and shoulders, tiny small flames dancing about on each side of the hoods neck part, the rest of his body looking very much like a flesh covered Skullsatamon. "I am the digital nightmare, Hermmon."

Lifting up a gauntlet covered hand with a torch like staff in it's grasp, he enjoyed the shocked look on their faces as he easily matched Wargreymon's in height. "And thanks to you Yagami, I now have all the power I need to aid my master in the destruction of everything."

Gritting his teeth, Tai glared across the distance between him and Hermmon and then over at Wargreymon. "Come on, we can take him, I know we can."

Smirking, Wargreymon responded by lifting up his gauntlets, letting the light shine of his dramon killers. "Of course we can, we've come this far haven't we?"

Tearing out over the castle wall as he finished talking, Wargreymon waste no time in letting Hermon have it, one massive fist hammering into the ghastly digimons face with as much force as he could muster, the blow sending the evil digimon falling downward, ripping into the army of digimon below.

Watching the ghost digimon after he had landed for a small second, Wargreymon shook himself out of it as he slammed both hands together. "Take this, Terra Force!" The orange colored energy sphere hammering into the impact site of Hermmon, dirt and digital data shooting up as the digimon army were destroyed.

"Fool." the spat out word followed by a stream of fire, Hermmon chuckling as he hovered upward, dark purple light flowing along him as he pulled in the lose data of the digimon army. "I am part of the boy, you can't kill me." Flying forward far faster then he really should be able too, the evil digimon shoulder checked Wargreymon, sending them back towards the castle wall. "I shall take control of his body, and use it to serve Lord Babel once more!"

His last word followed by a hammer punch with his staff, sending Wargreymon flying into the castle roof, bricks and mortar flying outwards as he sent a fireball down after him. "Finally." Slowly turning around, he grinned as he noticed Tai glaring back up at him. "Just you and-"

The sentence lost as a whirlwind of fire and mega level digimon impacted him, the force sending his staff flying off into the distance while he himself went tumbling into the sky. "You dare!"

Shooting around, Wargreymon kept going, a terra force attack forming in his hand. "We've come too far to give up now, the whole world needs us." Hitting Hermmon head on, Wargreymon let out a grunt as the evil digimon hammered one leg right up into his solar plexus, forcing as the air out of his lungs, but also setting off the terra force he had been holding.

The explosion sending them backwards, Hermmon grunted as he slid across the castle floor, hands lighting up with fire as he slowed down. "Fool, I can't be killed by you, don't you understand that?" Ending his sentence by sending out a wave of fire, the evil digimon laughed as Wargreymon hid behind his shield. "See, you can't win over me, I am more powerful then you, I am."

"Shut up!" The words spat out from him, Hermmon didn't even have time to blink as a sword rammed it's way out through his stomach, pain flaring through him as it was pushed further in. "Wargreymon's right, you can't win, we have too many trusting us to do this."

Turning as fast as he could, Hermmon glared down at Tai as the boy as he held onto the two hand sword, having pulled it out as the evil digimon turned. "You, little, brat!" Grabbing the messy haired boy as he spoke, Hermmon wasted no time in sending him flying, tossing him right into Wargreymon as he tired to attack. "Die, the both of you!"

Ending his sentence by sending the sword flying, Hermmon let out a cold laugh as it flew straight towards Tai's chest, only to freeze as it was blocked, Wargreymon glaring at him as his right hand gauntlet shattered and broke. "You-" Grabbing the sword with his now free hand, he held onto Tai with his left one. "-You will regret that!"

Shooting forward far more quickly then ever before, Wargreymon felt Tai grab onto the sword as well, both of them holding it as it slammed right into Hermmon's chest, and out the back as he was shoved backwards into the other castle wall, cracking the stones as he couldn't go any further.

Glaring down at him, Tai watched as he tried to speak, the hood having fallen back to reveal the skull like head in its ghostly appearance perfectly. "I, renounce you." Each word spoken coldly as he watched Hermmon scream, his body shattering much like a glass statue, it's small parts flowing around in the air before reversing flight and impacting Tai and Wargreymon.

The castle and everything fading away as a bright light filled the air. "Tai, I can feel something!"

Next to him, Tai smiled as he felt even light then before. "Yeah, so can I."

Slamming his arms out, Wargreymon felt Tai's mind flow into his own, the parts of Blackgatomon and Agumon full of wonder as more power then ever before flowed through them, the mark of the crest that Gennai had given them flaring up on their chest. "Wargreymon, X digivolves."

And the castle faded away around them.

* * *

Tokyo had seen much better days Jun mused as she took in her new surroundings, noting the shattered and broken buildings all around her, with the utterly burnt out TV station lying before her. "Great, we lost, didn't we?" Her words spoken as she watched the digital world above her, twisting across the sky much as it had all those years ago, only this time, all there was left of the once green world were barren wastelands.

Smoke blew past her as she stepped over the crushed pavement, humans lying broken and crushed around her, her uniform offering little protection against the biting wind whipping through the city. "What, what happened here?" Her eyes narrowed as she tried to find any signs of the old man and Yagami.

Clearly they had played a trick on her, sending her to this place to suffer. "They'll pay for this, oh they will." One hand reaching out, she grabbed a nearby wall and held onto it as she stepped over the body lying before her on the ground.

Her eyes drawn downwards, Jun stared at the body of a young boy that she hadn't seen him before now, a heavily bruised face greeting her as she pushed it over with her foot, her mouth going dry as she recognized it despite the damage. "That's."

"A simple fool who got in the way of the master's wish." The answer both cold and harsh, sounded out from before her, a slim, female figure dressed just like her walked forward as a trio of Neodevimon's marched behind her, each of them holding onto a figure. "This boy was a digi destined, a friend of our little brother, Ken Ichijoji."

Lifting her head, Jun finally saw the one before her, and gasped as she found herself staring into a mirror like image of herself, the same massy hair, but with longer fangs and claws, and blood red eyes that she could swear were glowing. "Who, who are you?"

Raising a single eyebrow, the look a like chuckled as she crossed her arms, her head tilting a bit to the side. "Well, to put it short, I am you, the one who didn't fail Lord Babel, and didn't betray him." uncrossing her arms, she spread out to show off everything around them. "This is my domain now, as decreed by our master upon the defeat of the digi destined."

Looking back over her shoulder, the look a like grinned as she saw Jun stare at her captives. "Ah yes, the last of them, they are all that remains of the digi destined." Reaching out one hand, she lifted up, Davis head, watching darkly as he tried to speak, only let out a bubbles of blood and drool. "A loser to the end I guess, Kill him and his friends, then leave them rot here with the rest, I'll deal with this traitor."

Turning back to Jun, the Look a Like grinned as she stepped forward, her eyes glowing as she held up a knife, it's surface gleaming in the red light that broke through the sky. "When you're dead, I shall bring about this wonderful vision; our brother will die, as will all of them."

"Master Babel's wish will be granted." Rising it up over her head, she focused on Jun and struck down, her face twisted with glee. "And I will be right next to him."

Her blow never reaching the messy haired girl as she went violently knocked off, her world spinning around as Blackwargreymon stood before Jun, his golden colored eyes following her as she crashed into the Neodevimon's behind her, destroying them and the digi destined into a shower of dark data.

Pushing herself up, she roared as she clenched the knife harder, her face twisting up with rage as her body began to bulk, black fur shooting out over her arms and face as she twisted into a heavily muscled Weregarurumon look alike, a wicked bone sword forming out of the knife. "So, you came here, even though you're not her chosen partner?"

Lifting up the blade, the digimon allowed his tongue to run along its edge. "Strange, but it doesn't matter." Holding out his sword in a challenging stance, the digimon chuckled as he began to advance on Blackwargeymon. "I am the Digital nightmare Lykamon, and I shall crush all in the name of Lord Babel!"

Staring right back at him, Blackwargreymon simply grunted as he lifted up his own weapons, sparing a quick look down to see that he still hadn't gotten his gauntlets back. "Jun, run, this battle will be a hard one." Ignoring the messy haired girl as he began to power up a Terra Destroyer, the large digimon focused entirely on the feral digimon before him. "Run now!"

Ending his sentence with his attack, Blackwargreymon never turned to see if she did as he had ordered, instead watching as Lykamon howled in triumph, his sword flashing out and cutting his attack into nothing, the negative energy flowing around in the air. "Dammit."

Then he was rammed into a full throttle, flying backwards as claws reeked down over his armored chest, sending sparks flying in all directions. "Die, you worthless creature, die in the name of the ultimate destroyer, Lord Babel!"

Lykamon's sentence ended with a punch right into his face, sending him flying backwards as Blackwargreymon stood up, his fingers flexing as he took in several deep breaths of air. "The more painful way is it then?" His voice cold as he confirmed the answer to his own unspoken question, he sent one armor covered foot crashing down where Lykamon had been just a split second before. "Very well then."

"Idiot." Lykamon spat out the insult as he shot forward, one clawed fist slicing through the air in seconds, drawing a trail of blood behind it as each claw dragged a fine line across Blackwargreymon's chest. "How can you hope to win against me?"

Lashing out in response, Blackwargreymon grunted as he didn't hit anything, Lykamon having vanished from his sight completely. "Where are you?" The answered to his question coming in the form of a flaring pain from above, Lykamon falling down on him as he slashed lose with his claws. "You, Terra Destroyer!"

Flying backwards as the red colored negative energy flared over him, Lykamon began to chuckle as he clawed the attack apart in one move. "You don't understand, I am her, you can't harm me, not even if you kill her." Rushing forward again, he sent out another clawed attack, slicing right the armor over the dinosaur man like digimon head. "I am faster then you, stronger then you."

Ending his sentence with a harsh kick that sent his opponent crashing down, Lykamon simply glared down at Blackwargreymon as he cracked his right hand, each claw glinting as he jumped up and drop kicked him in the stomach. "Any last words, before I claw out your throat?"

"No!" The cry coming from Jun as she shot forward, her eyes wide open with anger. "Get away from his you!" The last of her sentence lost as Lykamon charged her, gripping her and throwing into Blackwargreymon's side. "Want to die with him do you, you idiot, I would have expected you to at least try and run away."

Pushing herself up, Jun blinked as she felt someone help her, her head turning to see Blackwargreymon also standing up, his left hand clenched up as red power tried to surge in around it, but failed to do so. "Blackwargreymon, take him down."

Staring at Lykamon who were laughing at her command, he growled as he clenched up his right hand as well. "I can't, I'm out of strength, I need to recover."

Not moving a muscle, Jun chuckled a bit as she reached down and touched his hands, a soft wind blowing through the area s she did so. "No you don't, use my power to destroy him." As she spoke, she turned fully around and hugged him glaring back over her shoulder at Lykamon who had stopped laughing and had begun walking forward. "Trust me, this is my mind, my body, and I can give you my power if I want to!"

Eyes narrowing at her words, Blackwargreymon slowly lifted up his hands, reaching out to see if she really could do it, and felt a small shock as negative power flowed through him, it's taste bitter and unsettling at fist, leaving him confused until he grinned, it was negative power alright, all of Jun's anger at Lykamon, and it felt good, he felt like he could take on the whole world again. "Terra Destroyer!"

Laughing coldly as the red sphere of destruction rushed towards, Lykamon stormed forward, his arms crossed before him as he felt his claws hum with power. "Idiots, it's hopeless to even-" the rest lost as he slashed at the red sphere, and felt pain rush through him as he was hit by the only power that hurt him. -no, you can't, I'm."

"Useless." Jun finished for the wolf man like digimon as he screamed out in pain, his body shattering slowly. "I will never go back to Babel, in fact, I will destroy!" Looking up over her shoulder, she stared at Blackwargreymon as he nodded, the fragments of Lykamon slowly moving into a spiral movement around them. "What do you say Blackwargreymon, want to help me take him down?"

Feeling more power then ever before flow through him, the dark colored digimon opened his eyes wide as he felt Jun's mind flow into his own. "Yes, I'll help you, my partner."

Smiling for the first time in weeks, Jun let herself go as power rushed through her. "Then let's go, partner!"

Tilting his head back and roaring out loud, Blackwargreymon felt Jun melt into him perfectly as the power reached it highest level. "Blackwargreymon, X digivolves!"

The words followed by Tokyo shattering around them.

* * *

Snapping their eyes open as the world reformed, Wargreymon X and Blackwargreymon X stood silently in the street, slowly facing upwards into the digital gate. "We did it."

"Did what?" Came the confused question from Kari as she watched the new from of the digimons before her, both of them looking far more stylish and sharper then their previous form, power nearly radiating from them as they both turned to stare at her, her own eyes narrowing as she noticed something vital. "Hey, what happened to my brother, he was here a minute ago!"

Davis nodding as he failed to spot Jun as well, a small amount of fear welling up in him that she had run off again, leaving them to fight while she plotted her vengeance. "Has anybody seen my sister as well?" The question drawing in the other attention as he continue to stare at Blackwargreymon X, feeling a bit intimidated as the digimon seemed to tower up over him.

Lifting up one gauntlet covered arm to silence them, Wargreymon X watched as each dagger like claw gleamed in the light of the digital gate above them, a shiver of regret flowing through him. "Kari, I'm sorry, but." His voice failing him as he didn't know how to explain it, not to her, or to Mimi who had joined them with the older digi destined.

"What the fool means-" Blackwargreymon X added in as he pushed the other X digimon back, walking closer to them. "-Is that we're here, and while I can't speak for him, I am enjoying this." Flexing his arm muscles as he spoke, Blackwargreymon focused on Davis, watching him still staring right at him, but now with a layer of sadness in his eyes. "What?"

Taking a step back at the gruff sounding question, the young messy haired boy shook it off as he took a deep breath of air to regain some confidence. "So, you're in there Jun, inside of him?" His eyes narrowing as he saw a smirk growing across the fake digimon face. "What?"

The answer coming from Wargreymon X as he lowered his head a bit, focusing on Kari who seemed to have understood it, or so he guessed as he saw the horror filled look on her face. "I'm sorry, but it has to be this way, I understand it now." As he spoke, Wargreymon X lowered his hand and slowly touched Kari's head, taking care not to hurt her with the claws on his gauntlet. "It was nice to see you again, sister."

Behind his little sister, he could see Mimi, the pink loving girl looking as unsure as ever, as if she wasn't sure how to respond to this new development. "Tai, how, are you?" Her broken and unfinished questions made him flinch as he watched her mentally debate weather she should step forward, or remain where she was.

"Mimi." The name falling from his mouth to easy in his mind, but it came even more easier then what he knew he had to say to her next, he had forced a promise from her, hurt her, and he had never. "I release you Mimi, from the promise I made you give me, from the role I forced on you."

Standing up as tall as he was in his new form, Wargreymon X felt Tai as he smiled. "We free you from every commitment we ever swore you to." Avoiding her, he didn't see the confused looks he got from her, not the sudden pain filled one as she seemed to understand what he had really meant with it. "It's time, the final battle with Babel is here; we have to end what we started so long ago."

Across from him, Blackwargreymon X smirked as he uncrossed his arms. "About time, I've wanted to get back at Babel for so long." Lifting off from the ground, he stopped as the Jun part of him had him to turn to stare down at Davis, the messy haired boy looking as crushed as ever. "What are you moping about squirt? Go support them, they'll need someone to talk to, and no matter how much it pains me, you're the right one to do it."

Looking up at the dark toned X digimon, Davis saw a faint smile growing in the digimons face, and couldn't help but smile back, just knowing that despite all of her boosting, all of her anger and spiteful behavior, she wasn't a lost cause, she was his sister again. "Just make sure you kick his ass Jun, or I'll kick yours."

Nodding in response, Blackwargreymon X shot up into the air, followed shortly afterwards by Wargreymon X, the x digimons hovering above them for a few seconds. "It was great meeting you all, and thank you for everything!" Then he was off, following Blackwargreymon X into the digital gate above, fully intent on putting an end to Babel's evil once and for all.

* * *

Cracking with several loud sounds, the shell of the jet black digi egg began to fall apart and shatter as a massively huge form began to expand from within it, large fur covered leather like wings with five clawed joints spreading out as legs stretched out to reveal the true height of the monster and his three clawed feet, with a smaller fourth claw sticking out of each heel.

His body had taken on a more fur covered look, with a green almost green glowing pillar part connecting his legs with his upper body, a lone eye on the lower part of his chest staring unblinking at the world, highly muscles and fur covered arms connected to his chest, but rather then elbows, his arms having a collection of tentacles like strings holding the lower and upper parts together.

Giving off a sense of having changed the most, his demonic head had grown even more demon like as his horns now curved out and backwards, reaching far beyond his back head, with fangs jutting out of his upper and lower mouth, a third eye opening on his forehead as he began to chuckle lowly.

"Do you see, all of you?" Slowly opening his eyes, he gazed out at both the Earth and the digital world with pools of darkness, no pupils seen within his eyes as he slowly began to feel power flow through him, power far beyond his wildest dreams.

Spreading his clawed fingers apart, he reeked them across the ground, sending chucks of dirt and control towers flying with each hit. "I have no match in the worlds; my power over shines even the seven great demon lords, and the soverns." Gazing at his new body, he slowly turned to face his castle and fortress of darkness, now serving as the sole means of keeping the digital gate open. "I am perfect, the end of all, I have no need for a castle like this, the burnt out husks of the worlds shall be my castle."

Lifting up hands, he slowly clenched them up as power flowed through him, the mixed power of Gulfmon and Deamon having finally joined together to give birth to the only Super mega digimon around. "Now, I shall bring about the final day of existence at long last."

Raising his head and smirking, he gazed long and hard at the opening gate above him, twin figures shooting out of it to confront him one last time. "So, it's you two again?" Taking one step forward, he stared long and hard at them as they slowed to halt in the air above him, their attention solely on him, just as his was on them. "Defeated my little pets did you?"

Voice smug with pride, he crossed his arms in a superior way, taking in the slightly altered appearance of the two digimons before him. "Used my virus to alter yourself with, bet you even got a power boost out of it."

Grinning darkly as he saw the digimons prepare for fight, he slowly began ot laugh as he felt darkness gather up around him, fire forming in his mouth. "But it won't help you, not against me, or Deamon's super Mega body, for through him, I have been reborn, and now my wish and that of Mephismon shall be fulfilled at last."

"I am the ultimate evil! The combination of every one you have ever fought, I am the true form of Lord Babel now!"

"The God of Darkness!"

--

TBC: Hour of Twilight.

--

AN: Whooot, Another chapter done, only one more to go, and maybe an epilogue to round it all off with.

I know the bit with the X digivolutions were kind of strange, and might confuse a lot of you, but I had no other idea of how to do it, and I felt it was just going to sound like a cheap plot point buster to just have Gennai pop up and make them change without having some kind of test first.

Second, a lot of thought went into who they would face, my first choice were just their evil selves with digimon powers, then I wanted to use VR-Wargrey and VR-Blackwargrey, then I finally settled on two unreleased synthetic digimons, giving them that, hey we're what you could have been, if you just gave in and allowed us total control.

I even considered using hybrid digimons as their foes.

Anyway, drop a hint of what you think.


	30. Part XXX

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Summery: AU, very AU and dark, with mentioning of torture, violence and blood drinking.

* * *

Spawn of the vampire  
Twilights hour part 2.

* * *

At long last, the final battle has arrived, Babel, now calling himself Lord Babel have taken over the super mega body of Daemon, to use as his own. To make matters worse, he have opened a digital gate with the intent of making it large enough to crash the digital world into Earth, in an effort to destroy both worlds.

Facing him, Taichi Yagami and Jun Motomiya used the very virus he once gave to them, to merge with their digimon partner, become Wargreymon X and Blackwargreymon X, both of them fully intent of stopping their hated foe once and for all.

* * *

It was strange, really, after all this time, after all of the twists and turn, and all of his plans. Here they were once again, just as they had stood in his way all those years ago. "Must be something Zen or Karma like." Lord Babel muttered out as he hovered in the air, his eyes narrowed at his two opponents. "To have us face off like this again, brings back memories of our last personal battle, on Mount Infinity, doesn't it!"

Glancing upwards at the portal, he chuckled softly as he watched it growing. "But unlike then, there is no way to stop me now, I am invincible." Lowering his gaze, he stared at Blackwargreymon X and Wargreymon X in turn. "I see you two have merged with your digimons, just as I merged with Galfmon's mind, and Deamon's super mega form."

Spreading his wings out fully and shooting upwards into the air, he towered up over the two mega digimons, fire forming in his mouth while darkness wrapped around his hands. "A useless gesture, you will not win, my vengeance will finally be carried out."

"Shut up." Wargreymon replied as he narrowed his eyes, feeling his fingers clench harder onto his gauntlets, anger radiating from him as he felt the hatred from his human partner inside of him. "You used us, turned us against my sister, my friends, against Mimi, and for what, why did you chose us?"

Next to him, Blackwargreymon X grunted as he began to pull in power, fully a where that the best chance of victory would be now that this, thing, were occupied.

Leveling a cold glance at first Wargreymon X, and then finally at Blackwargreymon X, Babel gave a off a short grunt as he lowered his defenses a small bit. "Why? Why indeed, haven't you ever heard the saying, keep your friends close, but your enemies even closer?" Slamming out both hands as he spoke, Lord Babel laughed as he sent a wave of darkness, shoving them backwards through the air. "How could I not, both of you were just there, with no memory of what you had done, or any way to resist me."

"You with your selfish wish to live, and Jun with her greed for power and glory." Flying even further up into the air, so he was well above the two, he laughed as he crossed his arms. "You were both the prefect candidates, a shame really, you could have helped me destroy everything, if you had truly embraced the darkness."

Narrowing his eyes again, he began to laugh as he watched them regain their bearings, facing him again. "But enough about the past, the future is here, well, what's left of it that is." Spreading out his arms and hand, he laughed as darkness wrapped around them. "It's time to fight, time for you to scream, time for you to die!"

Rushing forward, Wargreymon X and Blackwargreymon X shot off to a side each, hoping to pin Lord Babel between them, unable to defend against at least one of their attacks.

"Terra Force!"

"Terra Destoyer!"

Sending out a cold bark of laughter, Babel slammed open both of his hands, the darkness he had called fourth forming into spheres with in each palm. "Useless!" Each sphere shooting out and impacting with the attacks, knocking them and away from him, and down towards the ground below. "Now, die, Algol's Flame!"

Sending out a massively huge fireball form his both as he spat out the name of his attack, he chuckled as it was avoid by his two foes. "Nice; very nice." Flexing all of his fingers, he beat his wings and shot off, aiming right for Blackwargreymon X. "Much as I wish it, to have you die so fast would be a shame, so give me your best."

lashing out with one massive fist, he couldn't help but chuckle as he felt more then saw the smaller digimon avoid him at the last second, the feeling of several sharp claws ripping through his flesh greeting him as Wargreymon X took advantage of his momentary distraction with Blackwargreymon. "Heh, I didn't even feel it!"

Rolling around in mid air, he felt his center eye snap open, dark power flowing out from the crystalline lenses of his abdomen. "Dark Spreader!" Each beam of darkness holding the power to seal their attacks and techniques away, for how long he didn't know, but if worked, killing them would be far easier. "Algol's Flame!"

The second attack hitting Wargreymon X perfectly on the back as he had moved to avoid getting hit by his beam attack, leaving himself far to open for another strike as a massive fist pounded him right in the face. "See, you can't win over me, you can't!"

"Great Tornado!"

Spinning around, Babel let out a blood chilling scream as Blackwargreymon X shot right across his chest, flesh getting torn open as his claws drilled through it as he flew past.

And behind him, Wargreymon X had already recovered, his eyes glowing as he flung up his hands, the very fire that Babel had shot him with getting drawn into a rapidly growing sphere in his hands. "Terra Force Zero!" The fire and energy mix hammering right into his Babel's left arm, sending a numbing pain through the demon lord digimon.

"You won't win." Wargreymon X spat out as he flew up to hover above Babel, Blackwargreymon X joining him a second later, each of them glowing as they went back into action, shooting off to each side.

Babel, recovered as well, roared as he turned his head to track Wargreymon X, streams of darkness shooting out from his hand as he kept trying to hit him. "You, your threats mean nothing to me, I am Lord Babel, the Demon God lord!" His eyes glowing as fire shot out from his mouth, each one missing by a greater and greater width, but still doing some damage as the ground below erupted into a fire storm. "Die!"

"Terra Destroyer Zero!" Blackwargreymon X getting involved again, dark power mixed up with Babel's own fire smashing into right between his wing blades, smoke rising up as his flesh was burnt.

Screaming in both rage and pain, Babel spun around and lashed out, easily batting the smaller digimon away as he was trying to form another attack. "You." Spinning around and sending out a massive wave of darkness, he chuckled as Wargreymon X went flying backwards. "Playtime's over I see."

Flexing both arms, he laughed he took off flying upwards, his eyes fixed on the gate above, lifting out both of his hands as dark power flared up around them. "The worlds will be destroyed, even if I have to do it bit by bit!" hitting the gate with his dark powers, he grinned as it was pushed upwards, growing in size as it rose. "When this gate reaches maximum size and perfect height, it will allow this world to cross the dimensional barrier and crash into the earth!"

Below, both Wargreymon X and Blackwargreymon X snarled as they return to the fight, claws glinting as they shot upwards, power gathering in their hands as they came ever closer to their target.

"Terra Force Zero!"

"Terra Destroyer Zero!"

The two attacks bounced off each other momentarily before slowly joining together, the positive and negative energies flowing into each other perfectly to form a much larger, brightly glowing sphere of destruction.

Lowering his head to stare at it, Babel barely had time to scream before it hit him head on, the force of it sending him upwards even faster, his chest smoking as he finally managed to stop. "You."

The word the only thing he managed to say before Wargreymon X was in his face, the clawed gauntlets shimmering as they shot out in a faster and faster pace, cutting and hitting him relentlessly. "Algol's Flame!"

Shooting back to avoid the massive fire ball, Wargreymon X smirked as he slammed his hands up over his head; the fire ball dying away it got drawn in along with the air around them. "Terra Force Zero!" The attack fire off right at Babel who had flown upwards again, the demon lord digimon barely giving the sphere of power any attention as it approached.

Moving one hand at the last second, Babel chuckled as he simply knocked the attack away, doing his best to ignore the pain shooting through him as he refocused in the gate, sending out more dark power with his free hand, laughing as he watched the gate grow once more. "Yes, soon, it will be finished, and I'll-"

His sentence cur off again as Blackwargreymon X chose that time put his drill like gauntlets to good use, cutting and ripping across the chest and stomach of Babel at first, before flying back and focusing on the single eye that had snapped open to glare at him. "Great Tornado!"

"Dark Spreader" The dinosaur warrior barely having time to react as each beam of darkness nearly hit him, but still, somehow making it through intact as he found himself hovering a good deal away from his target. "Wargreymon X, focus your power and destroy his center eye!"

Following his own advice, he held up his hands as power flowed into his fist. "With our combined powers, we can destroy it, and lock away that attack!"

Opening both hands, Babel laughed as a wave of darkness shot out from him, knocking back his two foes, as well as clearing a wide space around him. "Fool, I am the most powerful now, you are merely delaying the inevitable outcome of this fight."

Laughing as he flew forward, he snapped open his mouth as fire erupted from it, missing both X digimons, but still causing damage as they hit both Mount Infinity in the distance, and the ground below. "The worlds will be destroyed, and you two as well!"

* * *

Silence filled the small area of calm within the raging darkness that made up Deamon's super mega body, the faint light of a crest barely glowing, lighting up the area around him well enough for him to at least see where he was. "I failed, he was too powerful."

"You haven't failed Osamu." Gennai's voice filling the emptiness around him as the old man shimmered into view before the young boy hovering in the air silently. "You are awake at last, and have stood up to your other self." Reaching out one hand, Gennai smiled as he touched Osamu's chest. "Now, use your heart again, and help the ones on the outside."

Eyes narrowed in confusion, Osamu stared long and hard at Gennai as he watched the old man move his other hand out from behind his back, a collection of glowing spheres held above his palm, each one glowing with a different color. "What are those things?"

Smiling gently, Gennai held each sphere out before him. "These are the digi cores use to seal away the virus once; they hold a fragment of the sovereign digimons powers." Sending the spheres flying forward, he smiled as they glowed brighter as they encircled Osamu. "Your other self have forgotten about them, giving us the chance to use them and clear the way for Tai and Jun to finish this."

Gazing at each sphere, Osamu lifted up his head and gazed long at Gennai as he tapped one after the other. "What about us?" His voice carrying a bit of fear as he looked around him, his crest held firmly between his fingers. "I did my best to prevent him from using this, but, I had hoped that I could be restored in the end, that I could have my life back."

"We both did." Gennai spoke as he lowered his eyes, one hand clenching up. "I don't want to force you, but right now, your other self may win, and destroy both worlds." Reaching down to his own heart, Gennai did his best to smile as reassuring as he could. "For all it is worth, I apologize for everything I have done to you."

Leveling a firm stare on Osamu, the old digital human lifted his hands up over his head, each sphere glowing with a bright light as they swirled around him. "From the moment I knew what had happened, I've wanted to make it up to you again."

"Now I have the power to do so, so please." Smiling as he closed his eyes, Gennai felt his body glowing as he spread his fingers out. "Open your heart and allow me to undo the mistakes of my past, and free you from this prison."

Feeling the power flow through him, he grinned at Osamu as he felt it burn thought him, overpowering his only remaining data easily. "Osamu, focus on your crest and on stopping him, and in turn, I shall guide you with my heart, the heart dreamt of by humans to act as their link between this world and their own!"

Opening his own eyes, Osamu felt a wave of power flow through him, his crest humming with power as he turned and stared out over the fully lit up darkness, seeing it for all it was, and knowing just how to stop it's rampage. "With the last of my life force, I free you from Babel!"

Throwing his head back, Gennai let out a loud scream as light ripped out through his body, the data making him up starting to fracture with passing moment. "Now go, and please help them stop my greatest mistake!"

Screaming once more, Gennai gave a shudder as more of his body fractured, light pouring out as the four digi cores flared up, their contained power mixing with his and flowing into Osamu, the young boy's head snapping back as a scream tore out of his mouth as well as the light flowing through him.

* * *

Flying back, Wargreymon X panted as he watched Babel laughing at him, the battle already having taken it toll on his as he felt drained. "Kari, Mimi, please, give me the strength to carry on." Shooting forward, he lifted up his gauntlets as power grew between them. "And let me end this nightmare!"

On the other side of the battle, Blackwargreymon X snarled as he did his best to avoid several beams of darkness and fireballs combined, but also feeling how the battle had dragged on for too long. "Terra Destroyer Zero!" His attack scoring a direct hit right on the upper chest of Babel, but doing nothing to slow him down as several punches nearly hit him along with a fireball.

"Great Tornado!" Nor did his follow up cutting attack straight down over one of the demon lord digimons leg, the trail of red it left behind fading away as Babel laughed even greater. "Why can't we hurt him?"

"Cause he's cheating." Wargreymon X added in as he shot past him, power glowing with his hands. "He's using the virus to heal all the damage we're doing to him!" Flinging another sphere of positive energy off, Wargreymon X found himself pounded by a large hand, his body flying backwards as stars exploded before his eyes.

Blackwargreymon X, at the same time had flown backwards to catch his breath, his eyes narrowing as he began to fly forward again, gathering up energy in his drill armed gauntlets. "Great Tornado!" Sending as much of it into his spin attack as he could, his body actually glowing with the amount of power he was giving off.

Lowering his head, Babel chuckled as he prepared to simply blast the mega digimon away with a fire attack, his mouth already opening up to reveal his jagged sharp teeth. "Algol's."

"Terra Force Zero!" The roar from before snapping the demon lord digimon out his attack as Wargreymon X fired off his attack, right into Babel's left eye. "Now, the way's clear!"

Not holding back anything, Blackwargreymon X hit right at home, his attack ripping right into the chest eye and through it in one go, Babel letting out a scream of pure agony as he fell forward a bit, his wings flapping franticly as Blackwargreymon X tore out of Babel's back, stopping his tornado attack after a few seconds.

Dropping downwards a bit, Babel narrowed his eyes as pure rage swept through him. "You two, are really getting on my nerves!" Slamming out both his hands and his wings, a true storm of dark power shot out from him, sending both of his foes far away from him, the attack stopping after a second as he held on hand up over his wound.

His glare darkening as he removed his hand, watching as the wound hadn't closed or healed, unlike the damage he had gotten to his left eye that had gone away as it had healed in seconds. "What have you done?" His head flung around to glare at Blackwargreymon X, his left hand slamming out as dark power flowed around it. "What have you done to me!?"

Letting out a grunt at the question, Blackwargreymon X simply chuckled as he returned to a battle stance. "I have no idea what have happened to you." Clenching up his hand inside his gauntlet, he smirked coldly as he felt power flow through him as he began to fly closer to the demon lord digimon, doing a quick spin to avoid the blast of darkness sent at him, his drills cutting twin cuts in the back of the hand that had sent out the blast. "But I know that I have to take every chance I can get to destroy you!"

Smirking as he hovered backward, he lifted up his gauntlets. "Now, die!" Shooting forward as he yelled out the sentence, he felt negative power flow into his hands. "Terra Destroyer Zero!" The sphere attack aimed right towards the wound he had caused earlier.

Avoid the energy attack, the demon lord digimon roared in anger as he turned to face Blackwargreymon X, the mega digimon already busy powering up another attack.

"You." Narrowing his eyes, Babel lashed out with his right hand, intending to catch the digimon in his grasp and crush him to death. "It won't help you!"

Behind him, Wargreymon X smirked as he saw the perfect opening as his foe literal turned his back on him. "Babel!" The name spat out as a curse as he shot forward, his dagger like claws gleaming as he watched the super mega digimon turn around to face him, shock clear on his face as he tried to move out of his way. "Mega Claws!"

The scream from Babel filling the air as red strips erupted across his right eye, both of his eye lids slamming shot as pain ripped through his head. "You bastard!" Firing off a fire ball from his mouth, he cursed as a new pain flared up, this time from his lower jaw, clearly showing that he had not only missed his target, but left himself wide open to a counter attack. "Get away from me!"

Snapping open his eyes, he stared right into a glowing red sphere of negative energy fired off by Blackwargreymon X, the force of it hitting him like a mountain of bricks as he went flying backwards, hamming into the remains of his castle, crushing it's roof completely as he fell into the throne room. "How can you two-"

"-Beat me?" the question asked as the castle collapsed on top of him, brocks and metal burrowing him as he let out a scream of absolute hatred, his eyes closing as darkness covered him along with all the debris. "How?!"

* * *

Hovering silently with the four digi cores around him, Osamu slowly opened his eyes, watching the unchanged surroundings, the same red and black mass of evil, only, this time, he was in front of it, surrounded on all side by a completely black background with a fine grid of green lines running across it, dividing into evenly large squares. "What, what is this place?"

"This is Daemon's Super Mega body." Gennai responded from behind him, the voice faint and tired as if the digital human barely had any strength left. "Both digimons and myself are a living form of digital data, we're alive, able to make our own choice, but we're still data, what you're seeing is merely the inside of Deamon's body, the frame work that forms his appearance."

As he listened, Osamu turned to stare at Gennai, biting himself in the lips as he found the old man staring right back at him with an even more damaged body, the fractures having spread out all over his body, the light no longer flowing through them, but rather sparking like miniature bolts of lighting. "Gennai, you're-"

Giving a soft chuckle, Gennai lifted up his hand and gazed at it, watching as his data began to shimmer, a clear sign of it breaking down. "I used to much of my power to free you, but it's okay, I was prepared for this." Facing the boy with a deadly serious expression, Gennai lifted up one hand and pointed right at the pulsing sphere of black and red before them.

"That over there is a digi core, but not like the one the sovereign digimons has." Seeing the confused expression of Osamu's face, he couldn't help but grin a bit. "Think of it as a digimons soul, everything that makes a digimon tick, its thoughts, feelings and desires."

As he spoke, Gennai had moved closer, standing right next to Osamu. "When Babel was born, he was a part of you, living inside your mind, but that has changed now." Smirking as he crossed his arms behind his back, Gennai grunted as he watched the shifting colors. "He fused his mind so much into the mixture of Galfmon and Daemon that he left your body behind."

Osamu, blinking at first, slowly lowered his eyes as Gennai gave a soft indication with his hand, a faint feeling of disbelief and fear growing in him as more and more of him came into view. "I'm, I'm a grown up now." His voice barely heard as he had trouble believing it, Babel had always kept him in a child's body, the one he had had when he entered the digital world, the one he had nearly died in.

And now he was, old. "Gennai, what do I do now?" Despair entering into his voice, Babel watched as Gennai gave a soft grin at him, a grin that turned rapidly into a sad smile as he closed his eyes. "Gennai!"

"Osamu thinks he is invincible, but this digi core is his number one weakness." Smiling as he reached out and clasped his hands onto Osamu's shoulders, Gennai opened his eyes wide. "He's a digimon now, the body may be Deamon's, but the ones in control are Galfmon and Babel."

Osamu, listening, slowly closed his eyes as what Gennai were saying began to make sense to him. "So if the body dies, they die, but as digimons can be reborn they can return, and Osamu will have someway of ensuring that they do get reborn in case he loses." Gazing at the digi core, he smiled as he felt power flow through him, a power he hadn't felt in awhile as a small light began to blossom fourth on his chest. "To prevent it-"

"-I must destroy his soul." Speaking the last bit with firm determination, he reached down to his crest and opened his eyes to face Gennai, suppressing a second shock at the sigh of the old man who were completely fractured. "Gennai, you, thank you." Smiling as pulled him into a hug, he pushed down all signs of sadness and loss as he knew what he had to do. "I won't fail you Gennai, I promise"

Closing his own eyes, Gennai gave a small nod as he felt his fractured body give up, his data fading away as his own digi core came into view, it light faint, but still glowing as it slowly fade away amidst a cloud of rapidly scattering digital data. ""I know you won't, Osamu, you have never failed us."

Hovering silently as the last moots of data faded away, Osamu turned his gaze to the digi core, watching it pulse with all of its evil and darkness, its sheer presence sickening him. "I can't destroy you; I lack the power to do so." Turning his head to stare back at the wire frame work, he slowly smirked as he spotted what made up a single eye, and with his power he could see through it, those who were fighting his evil side with everything they had. "But they can, they just need to find the target to hit."

* * *

"Is it over?" Wargreymon X spoke out as he took in several deep breaths of air, his whole attention on the castle below as he hovered in the air. "Did we delete him?"

Next to him, Blackwargreymon X were silent, his whole body still rigid as he swept his sense over the area, battle instinct flaring at highest level. "No, I can still sense him, he's down there." Crossing his arms, he grunted as he lifted his head to observe the gate above, and through it, the earth itself. "He's trying to figure out why he's failing, why he can't win against us."

Tilting his head in Blackwargreymon X's direction, Wargreymon X grunted as he crossed his own arms, narrowing his eyes as he too felt it now that he did his best to focus, the presence of raw evil and darkness below them just lying there, almost as if it were asleep. "We should strike now, while he's distracted, we beat him now."

"No." Blackwargreymon X spoke out as he uncrossed his arms, a faint grin forming on his face as he hovered further downwards, power flowing across him. "I want to face him, in battle, not strike him down while he debating with himself of why he's still a loser." Turning his attention up to Wargreymon X, he grinned. "I want him to pay for he did to me."

Giving off a deadpan expression, Wargreymon X knew without a doubt that that was the Jun part of him speaking. "Right, so how long do you plan on waiting?" His voice full of sarcasm, he uncrossed his own arms and snapped one up to point at the gate above them. "Or haven't you noticed that the gate's still growing to allow the worlds to collide?"

Sighing loudly, Blackwargreymon X shook his head as he as at least listened to his battle partner, forming a sphere of red power inside of the palms of his hands. "Well if you see it that way-" Lifting the sphere up over his head, he grinned as he brought it down with all of his strength. "-I guess I can give him a wake up call!"

The explosion ripped out over the ruined fortress with the force of several hundred kilos of TNT, the pile of dirt, virus and control towers ripping apart in a spectacular explosion that sent both of the Wargreymon's flying upwards from the shockwave itself.

"Alright, that should wake him now, and just to prove how nice I am, I'll let you take the lead now." Speaking with a thick layer of arrogance, Blackwargreymon X shot straight up into the air, passing right by Wargreymon X as the Metal Empire digimon gaped at him in surprise, a surprise that vanished as soon as the roar reached them along with the massive fireballs.

Dodging as well as he could, Wargreymon X watched as Babel came tearing out of the cloud of dust and digital data, both arms held out before him as darkness flared up around him. "Aw man!"

Clearly, round two of the final battle was just starting up, and now he had to fight him alone all because of Jun's arrogant and stuck up personality taking over. "Terra Force Zero!"

Ignoring the attack as it impacted him, Babel snarled as he sent out another fireball along with a wave of darkness, the super mega level demon lord digimon had nothing but vengeance on his mind, whatever scraps of desire to prolong the fight long gone, and now matter how it had happened, he didn't care.

They were going down, once and for all.

* * *

"We have to help them." Kari's voice spoke softly as she, along with the other digi destined and several humans stared up at the massive gate filling the entire sky, the digital world clearly seen through it, and before it, were her brother and Jun fighting against Babel, all of them about the size of small toys, but she knew it was them.

Besides her, Mimi nodded as she held one hand over her crest, a strange feeling flowing through her as she still remembered Taichi's parting words; she was free; as he had told her that she didn't have to be with him if she didn't want to.

But now that there was no agreement, no promise, she still found that deep down, she hadn't wanted him to say that; rather, she had wanted him to promise to come back, to once again be with her, to tell her that he loved her, just as she loved him. "I know, but how."

Next to them, Davis stood silently, Ken right there as well, and the others spread out around them. "We give them our strength, to fight for all of us with." Lifting up his D3, he smiled as it began to glow, and then his smile grew bigger as he saw Ken and Cody do the same, each of them smiling as well. "Come on; give it your best shot, so we can all live to see tomorrow!"

Behind them, the digimons nodded at each other as they began to glow, as much of their power they could spare getting joined together and sent off along with each of the digi destineds hope and strength, several lines of light shooting off into the sky towards the gate.

* * *

Wavering through the air as fast as he could, Wargreymon X spat out a series of curse as several ability sealing dark rays followed him, Babel clearly past his limit of patience.

Diving down, the Metal Empire digimon flew rapidly across the digital ocean, eyes glowing as he did a quick 180 flip to face Babel as he continued flying backward, the massive demon lord digimon still following him, with Blackwargreymon X hovering above them, still not doing anything to help. "Jerk."

Focusing back on the approaching super mega, Wargreymon X stopping flying as he raised his hands up over his head as water began to spiral upwards, flowing into a massive ball above him. "Here goes. Poseidon Force!" The ball getting tossed right forward just as Babel nearly reached him, hitting the demon lord digimon right in the face, knocking him back and down into the ocean.

Screaming in rage at first, Babel quickly went over to coughing as he impacted the ocean's surface, ripples shooting out from his impact site as he sank down beneath the water. "You." The single word spat out as his massive wings began to beat rapidly, driving him upwards again, and into the air above the ocean. "You will-."

The rest cut off as another Poseidon force hammered into his face, driving him back down under the water surface again, and into the cold depths of it. "I have had enough of this!" Screaming out at the waters below the surface of the ocean, he slammed out both wings, arm and feet as raw darkness flared up around him, the water literally shaking as he forced his will into it.

"I will destroy with all of the darkness I can summon!" Speaking as the water began to spiral around him; he rose up slowly, the air itself dimming as he laughed at the sight of the massive funnel forming. "Behold, the gateway to the third world, the dark area!" pouring more darkness into it, he grinned as Wargreymon X came flying at him just as the dark vortex opened. "Want a up close and personal look do you?"

"No." The simple respond came as a massive sphere of power rushed out, impacting Babel's left wing, but doing nothing as a shield of dark power had formed around him. "I'm going to stop you here and now!" lashing out with his claws, the Metal Empire digimon screamed in pain as he was flung backwards from a massive shock of coldness. "What is that?"

The answer came not from Babel, but from Blackwargreymon X as he shot down from above, the X digimon impacting the shield at full force, but doing little more then causing a ripple in its surface before he was thrown away. "It's not his power; that power is coming from the dark area itself, its pure negative energy."

Smirking as he stopped flying again, Blackwargreymon chuckled as he spread out his arm, eyes glowing as he began to pull in the negative power from not only the air and ocean, but also from Babel's shield as well. "Luckily for me, I can draw on that power as well." Laughing as he began to glow much like Babel had, he grinned darkly as he increased in size. "Now why don't you sit this one out, Wargreymon?"

Opening his mouth to protest, Wargreymon X didn't get much of a chance as the dark colored copy of him overrode any protest he might have had by blasting him with a stream of darkness, the force of it sending him flying right into the side of the vortex.

Satisfied with the removal of Wargreymon X, Blackwargreymon X turned back to face Babel, his arms lightly spread out as he gazed into the eyes of the super mega digimon. "I've waited so long for this moment." Starting to glow with his newly gained power, Blackwargreymon X chuckled as he began to move in closer to Babel. "You used me, lied to me and mocked my feelings, now you will pay for that."

Removing his shield, Babel chuckled as he rose up his arm as well, power flowing through him as he began to power up his attacks. "Really now dear Jun, don't forget, I couldn't have done it, if you didn't want what I offered so much." Smirking as he towered up over Blackwargreymon X, he outright lowered his guard as an extra insult to him. "I knew you were weak and easy to fool, just as you were when you first fought against me, you can't remember it, can you, but you nearly joined me."

"Once a fool, always a fool." Lashing out as hard as he could, Babel enjoyed the shocked look as he slugged Blackwargreymon X right into the face, the force of his blow sending him backwards rapidly. "I never intended to give you or Yagami anything Jun, you were just a tool to me all along, a simple little pawn to move about as I saw fit!"

Eyes glowing with Power, Blackwargreymon X lifted up his arms, snarling as he felt the dark, negative power flow through him, giving him the boost he needed to win this fight. "You will regret those words." Flying forward as fast as he could, Blackwargreymon X wasted no time in hammering both of his gauntlet's drills right into the shield, sparks flying as he drove them downwards. "As you will regret everything else you have ever done to me!"

The air lit with a massive explosion as a Terra Destroyer Zero was unloaded right into the dark shield, overloading it in one move. "And when I'm done with you, I will kill Yagami, and the other digi destined, before taking my rightful place as ruler!"

Babel, chuckling as he lifted his hand, watched as his opponent began to advance again, his mouth cracking open as fire flare up inside of it. "And what will you do, without your friend you are alone."

Hovering still, Blackwargreymon X laughed bitterly as he began to power up an attack, dark powers tearing in from not only the dark vortex, but also from the air and Jun's anger and hatred that had begun to overpower him. "Terra Destoyer Zero!" The massive red glowing sphere of destruction streaking right towards his opponent, who simply crossed his arms and laughed as his central eye snapped open, those accursed dark stream of light shooting out, to fast for him to dodged as he was still in the after attack pose.

As each beam hit him, he swore he could feel his powers drop, as each of his abilities were sealed away for the rest of the battle, leaving him with nothing more then his fighting skills and muscles to win with.

Babel on the other hand, didn't do much better as his central eye got hit right on, the pain of it's lost flaring through the massive demon lord digimon who had to hover backwards a bit, his arms hanging limply before he lifted them up again, but with a loss of speed. "That hurt."

Smirking as he snapped open his mouth, he laughed as he caught Blackwargreymon off guard with a massive fireball, the Metal Empire digimon vanishing completely as it roared fourth into the sea. "As did that I bet." Striking out with his right arm, he couldn't help but chuckle as he felt the impact, as well as the sound of armor breaking apart. "You see, your overconfidence is your weakness Jun, it always has been."

Grabbing the metal empire digimon with his left hand, he smirked as he pulled Blackwargreymon X towards, lifting his right hand towards his upper body part with the full intent of breaking his back as he began to push against it. "I must say I was surprised when you decided to break up your teamwork, after all, you were beating me."

Ending his comment with a powerful push, he gave off a delight grin as he heard the tell tale sign of the remaining armor Blackwargreymon X wore grinding against itself, the eyes of the dino man opening wide as a pain gasp escaped from his mouth. "You could have won."

"Instead, you chose to play the role of betrayer once more." Adding more pressure to his finger, he smirked as he could clearly see the pained expression growing. "And now you die like one."

Closing his eyes, Blackwargreymon X felt Jun scream in anger as she tried to force them free, causing pain to flow through him with each movement, his mind fully a where of the fact that with just a bit more pressure, his spine would snap, and then he'd be nothing more then a dead digimon even with all of his powers. "You- can-."

The rest lost a massive shower of light tore down on them, the majority of it flowing into the dark vortex, sending massive ripples across it as it lit of the funnel.

Even that didn't impress him as much as the fact that some of them headed toward him, the light starting to flow through him, healing him as he felt Babel release his hold. "No."

The bitterness of the word shocking him as the light was pushed out, Jun's Anger raising as she glared upwards through his eyes, a snarl on his face as he felt the power of light fully flowing away from him. "I don't need your help, little brother, I don't need anyone!"

As the last words were spat out, Blackwargreymon X could only watch as he forced to fly forward, starting to spin around in place as dark powers erupted up around him, Jun's intent becoming clear to him as he saw the wound where the central eye had been.  
She intended to ram into him, to use an already open wound to drill right through him and out the other side.

A good idea if he had to say so, but it would have worked better if they still had the ability to do so, something which showed they hadn't as the world was suddenly rocked wildly, pain exploding through him along with stars blazing across his vision.

Behind them, were a massive fist, clenched up and primed to ram into their face at any second, which it did, the force of sending him flying head over heals, and face to fist with a left hand impacting him from above, shoving him back first into the ocean with the speed of a racing car. "Jun, you're an idiot."

The last he spoke as he felt his already abuse body start to give in, the waves of the ocean closing in above as he was pulled into the vortex.

Glaring down with all of his hate, Babel grunted as he watched his bleeding hands, then felt a bit of confidence flow through him, everything was in place, he was the last of the warrior duking it out to stand.

"I win." The statement spoken softly as he lifted his face towards the gate, observing how it had actually reached prime height and size, the earth spread out before him, and through it he could see the other human children who had defied him looking back at him. "You see mortals, I am the most powerful, I am a god! I can never be beaten!"

His statement prove wrong as a massive golden colored tornado proved, the twister shooting up from the dark vortex, and digging across his whole stomach, chest and left arm, digging deep into his body and sending bits of data, fur and blood flying as it finally stopping moving, revealing Wargreymon X, fully healed and primed for battle.

The sight of the Metal Empire digimons return shocking Babel as he felt his own body fall, his body feeling if it was on fire from the pain flowing through him, as well as from the knowledge that his must useful attack had just be taken out by such a simple attack..

Still, his arrogance, his hatred refused to let him back down, to admit defeat. "How can you have survived that? She killed you!"

Hovering silently, Wargreymon turned his attention downwards as he watched the beams of light still flowing, a faint smile on his face as he faced Babel on the other side of them. "You will never understand it, how much friends are willing to do for each other."

Lifting up his arms, the Metal Empire digimon smirked as he felt the power of the light, and that of the darkness around him. "I have the ability to infuse my attack with the elements." Stating the fact, Wargreymon X smirked as he began to pull in on as many of the elements around him as he could, water and air spiraling around him easily, along with the light beams, and the darkness.

From the shattered fortress far above, he found the element of earth within the mass of the virus and control towers, and the element power of fire, well, that he would get from Babel as the last one if he did what he needed him to do.

The demon lord digimon not disappointing him one bit as he sent out a massive fireball, the roaring fire attack shooting through the air, only to get sucked up into the terra force zero attack, adding itself to the multicolored sphere.

"You, you can't do this, you hear me!" Starting to beat his massive wings, the super mega level digimon began to fly upwards, his arms opening wide to grab and crush the one in his path, to tear him apart bit for bit. "I won't let you!"

"My friends gave me their powers." Wargreymon X spoke softly as he prepared to toss off the massive attack, aiming it right at the gaping wound he had already cut into his opponent. "They gave me their trust, their hope." Feeling a new power flow through him, he smiled as he added it into the already impressive sphere of power. "I will not fail them!"

"Terra Force ZERO!"

Babel barely had time to scream as he finally saw his mistake, the attack blazing right into him as he tried to break off his approach, and move to either of sides to avoid it, instead he felt it rip into him, burn through his already wounded body, shattering it in half as his data was burnt up, bit by bit.

"No!" His scream ripping out as he lifted up one arm, only to stare in horror as it explode, his digital self struggling to hold his body together to avoid losing it, especially now that he finally had the power he needed to make sure he got his revenge. "You can't, I won't let you."

The last spoke as a whisper as it became all to clear to him what would happen to him, his mind shattering as it found no escape, his human shell no longer connected to him, only a digital soul close to breaking apart, and the fading virus, burning up in the attack. "I must-"

"-Have my, revenge." Tearing down, he aimed at the one place he could hide, the one place he could protect with his fading virus and his remaining powers. "My revenge will still be mine to take."

Hovering silently above as he watched the body of Babel rip itself apart and becoming nothing more then a digital could getting pulled down into the dark vortex, Wargreymon X smirked as he lowered his head, staring into the ocean with a smile on his face. "Blackwargreymon X, I felt it, your power and your desire to help us where Jun didn't want to."

Pressing his hands together in a thanking position, he gave a small bow down at the ocean. "I thank you, and know that I will always respect your final sacrifice."

Lifting his attention to the air above him, a greater feeling of relief flowed through him as the digital gate began to fade away, closing as it source of control had vanished at last. "It's over, we've won."

Turning around, the Metal Empire digimon frowned as he watched File Island, several fires and massive area of destruction still clear to him even from this distance. "But the price we've paid for this is great." Closing his eyes, Wargreymon X shuddered as he could almost see the all the devastation caused the by the virus around the digital world.

"It will take along time, but we will repair it, I swear it." Snapping his eyes open, Wargreymon X didn't get much of a warning as something tore up through the dark vortex, a burning pain filling him as something slammed into his stomach, cutting through his armor easily. "Who?"

Lifting his head, he stared confused as all he could see were a red and black glowing ball hovering in the air, it's size easily the same as himself, but, as he looked upwards, he saw what it had been, as a tendril of pure virus became clear to him, connecting to the sphere and the one controlling it. "Babel!"

The demon lord digimon smirking as he struggled to maintain his own body, the only thing still remaining of him flowing around the sphere, as well as forming the attachment that had just impaled Wargreymon X. "It will take more then that, Yagami, you hear me?"

Snapping his tendril much like a whip, he laughed as he sent the metal empire digimon upwards with a sickening tearing sound, bits of digital flesh and armor flying away as he watched the mega digimons cream in pain. "Does it hurt?"

His mouth as dry as a desert, Wargreymon X found himself unable to answer as he finally regained his balance, one hand instantly moving to cover his wound. "How, how can you be alive?" The question barely whispered out as he focused on Babel's face. "That blast, it held the power of everyone."

Fully calm, Babel simply flexed one hand as he stared at his nails, his eyes narrowing as he thought about it. "Poor Yagami, so confused are we?" Leaving about as much pride in his voice he could, Babel slowly held out his hand, dark powers flowing across it as he began to form a ball with it. "If you must know, it's because I'm the best, and because unlike you, I plan ahead for everything."

Letting the ball fly off, he smirked as it hit perfectly, lighting charging out from it and across his opponents body, drawing out a full fledged scream of pain. "And if you don't mind Yagami, I'd like to see you die now." Shooting off a second ball of darkness with his other hand, he laughed as another scream erupted.

As the pain died down, Wargreymon X hovered perfectly still as his hand dropped, revealing his wound to be slowly growing and pixelating around its edges. "You, you won't win this, we won't let you." Struggling to lift up his other hand, he did his best to hide just how much it hurt.

Failing miserable as Babel chuckled at the sight, before using his tendril to pound him right in the face, sending him flying backwards in a downward fall into the water.

"No Yagami, this is the end." Flexing one hand as he spoke, Babel gazed down at the dark vortex as it starting to close up as well, his source of negative power now lost as well. "I had everything, and now it's gone, GONE!" Throwing his head back and screaming in rage, he pounded both hands down hard, feeling his thoughts turning more twisted. "How could it come to this, I was the most powerful, the one supreme digimon, I was a god!"

"You were never a god, merely a deranged hybrid." Came the response, sounding far to close for his liking, and too familiar, just like the shape forming before him, the body looking far to much like his own. "And now, you can die at last."

Both hands clenching up, Babel glared right at Osamu as he smiled back at him. "Osamu, so the weakling freed himself, or did you need Gennai's help to do so." The hateful reply failing to do much in regarded to removing that smile. "Well, how do you expect to kill me? You have no digimon, no friends, and your only hope just died."

Shaking his head, Osamu grabbed his crest as he smiled even wider. "No, he won't die, not yet." Clenching down on it, he felt power flare up around him as the four digi cores of the sovereign digimons formed around him, each one pulsing in time with his heart beat. "He will defeat you with the last of my power."

Spreading out both arms, Osamu gave off a silent scream as he felt every ounce of his strength faded away, the power of the digi cores aiding him in sending it to the one who would need it. "Please, destroy him for me."

His last thoughts turning to the one whom he had missed the most doing his imprisonment in his own mind, the one he had hope would always be carefree and happy. "Ken, please, don't ever give up, always remember your kindness, your strength and use it to become the person you want to be."

Babel, snarling as he felt the power his better half had just given away, and feeling quite sickened by the sappy rant in the end, responded with a quick jab of his tendril, the darkness easily cutting through the body before him. "Fool, if you had kept that power for yourself, you could have lived longer, but now you can just die as the weakling and fool you are."

His only reply coming in the form of a smile as Osamu faded away, his body slowly turning into a mass of digital data drifting off into the air, scattering along with his last wish.

"Idiots, the lot of them." His opinion stated, Babel reached out to grab the four digi cores, only to scream as they too faded away, moving beyond his reach along with the power they could have given to him if he could have claimed them.

Facing the ocean, Babel didn't have time to scream as a shape burst out of it, smashing right into his core and sending him backwards with the impact, his mind reeling as he found Wargreymon X hovering before him again. "Yagami, can't you just stay dead!"  
Smirking as he lifted up his gauntlets, Wargreymon X didn't dare to blink his eyes or look away, as he faced down Babel for the final time, a sudden burst of strength and power flowing through him, giving him the needed boost to pull off one last desperate attack. "Maybe one day, but right now, I'm too busy kicking your butt to just give up and die."

Clenching both hands as he smirked, Babel slowly began to laugh as he pulled in as much of his dark powers as he dared, feeling it flare up in his hands. "Well then, show me; kick my butt if you can reach it." Slamming out both hands, Babel outright laughed insanely as he began to send out one ball of darkness after the other.

Wargreymon X on his part simply smirked as he began to move forward, wavering in and out between the balls, keeping his full attention on his enemy as he kept coming closer; his grip on his gauntlets tightening as he finally saw it, an opening he could use. "Great Tornado!"

Babel barely able to scream as he sent out all of his darkness in one desperate attack, it's strength causing the air to shimmer as it blazed out, and failed as Wargreymon X simply cut right through it, the golden colored tornado he had created around his body flaring up as it impacted Babel's digi core.

The two powers fighting against each other for dominance, Babel's eyes narrowed into hate filled pools as he put out everything he had, while Wargreymon X did the same, the golden tornado grinding away at the surface of the digi core, cracking it slowly, but surely.

A sudden shockwave ripping out as the darkness gave way to the golden light, Babel's eyes snapping wide open as he could clearly feel the very micro second that the tornado cut through the surface of his digi core, pain unlike any he had thought possible flaring through him. "No."

"No!" Babel letting out final scream as he cracked, his body fracturing as well when Wargreymon X ripped through his weak spot. Tearing his final link to the digital world up and shattering every last part of him as stream of dark power shot out from him, his last strength fading away. "You can't"

Feeling his body break apart, he would have screamed as his left eye vanished, but failed as he could mutter out on last thing as he felt the final moments of his life pass. "How, I, I'm a god."

Turning around as far as he could, he gazed with his remaining eye at his hated foe, his remaining arm starting to shatter into digital data as he lifted it up, his fingers clawing one last time at Wargreymon X as they broken apart. "A god."

"I'm" The last word spoken as all that remained of him were his right eye, staring unblinking at the world before it simply shattered as well, joining the rest of his digital data as it began to fade away, ending all of his dream.

After breaking out of the tornado like attack, Wargreymon X had hovered silently in the sky as he gazed back over his shoulder, observing the last few seconds of Babel's life as it ended, the cloud of digital data left behind fading away along with his evil. "It's over."

Touching his wound, the metal empire digimon smiled as he leaned his head back. "Mimi, Kari, Osamu, Jun, Catherine, all of you, I did it, I won." Releasing his hold on his gauntlets, he barely pain them any attention as they fell into the sea below him, the full feeling of having won finally flowing through him. "I did it!"

"And now-" Lifting up his hands before his face, he smiled as he felt the very last drop of power inside of him flare up, along with something else. "I finish it."

Glowing brighter and brighter, he gave of a silent grin as he watched his body flicker, his own digi core fading into view before him. "With the X antibody, I can remove the virus and restore balance to the digital world." The four digi cores of the sovereigns joining his own as each one flared up with light, brighter then even his own Terra Force Zero.

"So please, Kari, Mimi, enjoy it, and find happiness!"

* * *

On earth, Both Kari and Mimi stiffed as a cold wind blew through the area, their heads still tilted back to stare up at the sky above them, hoping to see a gate open up any second to show that Taichi and Jun had made it, that they had returned.

Behind them, Ken and Davis were silently sharing their mental strength, the young messy haired boy needing it after seeing his own sister's death for a second time, and knowing that despite his best attempt, she had rejected him and his help in the end, giving in to her own dark side.

Ken on the other needed Davis help, as he had seen through the gate, the last few seconds of his brother's life, as well as felt his wish for him to be happy, and finally become the one he wanted to be himself.

And within him, he had already agreed to the wish, knowing that right now, his kindness, understanding and friendship would needed, and in turn, he would be able to have them help him when he need it. "Please rest in peace, Osamu, and thank you, for everything."

Lowering her head at last, Mimi didn't bother to hide the lone tear sneaking down over her cheek, but still turning away to avoid seeing the others sympathy and pity for her. "He's not coming back is he?"

"No." the answer coming from Kari as she did her best to smile, one hand lightly touching Mimi's as she felt the older girl's grief and loss as strongly as she felt her own. "But in the end, he lived up to what he always was to me, a true hero."

In the background, Matt didn't voice his opinion out loud, but still agreed with Kari comment as he watched the other digi destined slowly lowered their head in a final bow to the heroes who had given everything they had to save them. "Sora, once things settle down, do you want to go to the digital world with me?"

"Of course." The reply came as she reached out and grabbed his hand, squeezing it in conformation of her love for him. "We're all going there Matt, we have to help rebuild it."

"For not only them; but for us as well." Mimi added in as she watched the digi destined and digimon nod in agreement. "And for all the others who will want to visit it, and meet the digimons."

Lifting her head,, she smiled as she felt for now missing crest, knowing that it had gone back to help protect the digital world again. "I'll miss you Tai, I didn't know if I loved you before, or if it was just a deep curiosity I felt for you and what you were, but in the end, I know that I did love you".

"So please, rest in peace, and trust us to carry out your wish."

"To protect and cherish the world you gave everything for."

"My king."

* * *

The ocean had clamed down at last, as every trace of the destructive battle that had taken place once had vanished at last, the sea calm and quiet as it washed up against the beach.

And on top of a mid sized wave, a single digi egg lay bobbed up and down as it was carried towards the shore, it simple white shell covered in a colorful pattern of orange lines that spun around it's width.

With the sun settling in the background, the egg finally reached shore, depositing itself on the shore bank, rocking gently back and fourth as the waves alternately pushed and dragged at it as it lay in the surf.

The End.

End Song: "No one shall get in my way." from Slayers Next.

AN: And so it ends at last, nearly four years in the making, with several stumbling blocks and near abandonment along the road, we have a final ending.

And one several no doubt hates me for.

I had planned for Tai and Jun to end up dead in the final battle years ago, back around chapter 12 or 13. I had also consider back then that they would face Apocalymon as a final enemy, but I dropped that, blame it on a desire to use a digimon not many others have as a final enemy figure, well not that version of it.

To me, the chapter is rushed in the beginning, and the fight scenes are simply just so-so. They could have been better, but I could also have done worse, so, in a strange way, I am somewhat satisfied with this chapter.

As for those who had wanted Jun to redeem herself in this fight, I can just say, so did I, but it wasn't meant to be, as I had no idea how to end it with both of them.

In regards to the digi egg in the end, I did have some thoughts about a sequel, but I've changed my mind, if anyone wants to do a follow up, they're welcome to do so.

Special thanks goes out to these faithful reviewers who have stuck with me through the whole story.

Fruitloop Trooper.  
Drager.  
Firehedgehog.

Thanks for reading and reviewing,  
Demino.


	31. Epilogue

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Summery: AU, very AU and dark, with mentioning of torture, violence and blood drinking.

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Spawn of the Vampire  
Part XXXI  
Epilogue  
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It wasn't the most perfect day to visit, but she had decided to do so anyway, call it an instinct feeling that she just had to come. Sure, her parents wouldn't like it, nor would her teachers, but they also didn't really know what it was like.

After the last battle with Babel, it had become so hectic for them, so demanding that she had barely had time to visit this place, heck, she barely had time to focus on her own education. After all, things had been both world changing yet remained the same in a number of ways.

But that was for later, for now, she was here. "I'm back Tai." Speaking the sentence softly, Kari Yagami stared at the stone monument that had been raised by not only the digi destined, but Catherine and Ogremon as well, most surprising had been a large number of digimons who none of them had met had even shown up.

Even some of those who had been enslaved by him, they had been rather silent, but a few had been willing to talk to her and explained that it was both a way for them to see if the rumors had been true, and to make sure the evil was gone, at least for a while.

"Some digimons, are just morbid I guess." her comment a bit depressing as she thought about it, digimons didn't really die, they just got reformatted if they had been good, a second chance at life so to speak. "Too bad we can't be just as sure about humans, eh Tai."

Lowering her hands, she smiled as she slowly placed all the flowers but one on the grave, taking care not to block the head stone from sight or to disturb the other flowers already there. "It's been a long time now Taichi, five months to be precise and a lot has changed since I was last here."

Settling down, Kari kept her eyes on the grave as she thought about the long time between her visits. "I'm sorry about not making it here sooner, but since the digital world has become world known, I've been distracted by how much digimons have changed things."

"Sure, it's not all fun and games; there are those who find them to be nothing but invaders and a strain on our world." The fact making her even more depressed as she had seen some of the leaders of the world refer to digimons as aliens scum, demons and monsters.

The most disturbing one having been some famous radio host in America. "He's calling for a crusade to save the souls of us digi destined." Her eyes narrowing a bit, she slowly grinned as she focused on the headstone. "Let's just forget about him right Tai, besides, I got so much to tell you."

"We can start with Mimi, after all, you and her, I, I know how she feel about you and how you...felt...about her..." Her voice lowering, she watched the pink and yellow flowers placed just before the headstone. "She had to go back to America for a while, but after the whole riot thing against digimon went down, her parents returned to Japan, said it was safer here, personally, I think it was because she let Togomon chase away the ones who trashed her dad's car, she still had a thing for you, but, she can tell you about when she comes by later."

Smiling as she closed her eyes, she felt herself at peace as she thought about her friends. "Matt and Sora became fiancés last month, it came out of the blue, just as Matt giving up on his band did, he's joined the defense forces instead, partly to join the air force, partly to explain digimons to the world"

"Davis is still a mess, after Jun's relapsed into evil and her death-" Holding back a small choke, she gave a small sniffing sound before continuing. "He barely spoke to any of us at first, if Ken hadn't been there for him so much, I think he would have tried to, kill himself."

"He's doing better now, and we're always there for him, Yolie the most of us, though I think it is also because Ken is there, well, a small part of it."

"Izzy's become the voice of the digital world, he good, but he's under a lot of stress, and the whole Micheal business hasn't made it any better, he's recovering, but he'll never be himself again."

"Sora has gotten into designing, but has also started to take a more active role in her mothers flower shop, Cody, Joe and Takeru have been helping to rebuild the damage to the digital world, in fact, several other nations have decided to help after learning of Babel and his attempted destruction."

"Speaking of Babel, did you know he was Ken's brother? We didn't really learn until he gave Catherine the third degree interrogation about it, but when we asked him about it later, all he told us, was that his brother wasn't Babel, that Babel was just a monster posing as Osamu, when Yolie demanded a better answer, he simply told us that Osamu had found peace, and that was all."

"About Ken, when he's not spending time with Davis, he's either helping Izzy or at school, they have this plan for a more effective way of the defending the worlds from both evil digimons and humans alike, they call it the global union for digi destined, a way of finding, training and supervising all new digi destined, as well as a way to keep track of rouge digimons."

"Gennai, it's hard to believe he really gone as well, I mean he helped us when we were younger, he always tried his best to make sure both worlds would be safe, it's rather strange to think he won't pop up with any cryptic legends, prophecies or other spooky stuff when we least expect it."

"I'm not so sure about his chosen successor though, the whole battle with Babel and the near destruction of the worlds has made her more; I think you would call it withdrawn. She's moved out of Gennai's house and into the old guardian base, several of Gennai's copies helping her with something that should protect the digital world more effectively."

"She calls it the knight project, I don't like it, she showed up one and asked for some samples from both Davis, Ken, Veemon and Wormmon, I even saw her trying to get some of your data, but she left it alone after I told her to leave."

"Our parents like her though, even if she only wanted to hear about you."

"Mom and Dad, they haven't changed, they grown older Taichi, whatever your return did to them, it did something. Mom has barely talked, and Dad's acting like a robot, he only goes to work, barely coming home to just eat and sleep, it's like losing you a second time hurt them even more."

"I've seen how Mom stares at Gatomon, and the other digimons, she doesn't hate them, but she doesn't like them either, as if she's blaming them for your death, but I think she also knows that it with the help of digimons that you saved the world from destruction."

"Maybe she and dad will calm down again, and understand that at the time, there was no other choice."

Standing up, Kari stared down at the grave as she wiped a single tear from her eyes, doing her best to appear strong in front of her brothers resting place. "I miss you Taichi, having you come back was the best thing to happen to me, which is why, I still hope that somehow, you'll come back again, but I also think that this time, there won't be some miracle return from the dead."

"We all miss you, but this time I got to say goodbye at least." Laying one hand on the tomb stone, she smiled softly as she stood up, several tears running down her cheeks as she began to turn a round. "I'll be back again, as will Mimi and the others"

"We'll protect the worlds for you, the worlds you died saving."

Stopping, Kari cast a stare over at another tombstone, surrounded by less flowers then her brothers, but still with enough to make her smile. "I truly believe as Davis does, that deep down you weren't evil Jun, you just didn't want to accept that you belonged in the light."

Placing the last flower on the grave, Kari smiled as she left, staring into the horizon, almost feeling as if her brother were still there to help her find the courage to keep the promises she had made to him.

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Standing still, Mimi watched as Kari left, the young girl having a faint smile on her face as she walked in the direction of the nearest TV back to the real world.

As soon as she was sure she was alone, Mimi stepped forward, not wanting anyone to see her when she visited, him. "I'm doing my best, to keep my promise."

Her small comment spoken as she stared down at the tomb, the flowers she had brought with her placed next to Kari's. "I'm sure that she told everything about our current problems." her eyes closing as she though about it. "Still, there are some good things happening, new digi destined are showing up everyday, they're a lot of trouble, but still welcome."

"I miss you Taichi, even despite of everything you did to me, and so many others." Slowing down, she placed one hand over her heart as she opened her eyes. "I know now Taichi, I love you."

Smiling as she faced the grave, she giggled a bit. "Maybe things would have been different if I told you sooner, or if I had even understood it."

A soft wind blowing through the area as Mimi laughed softly, standing up. "Watch over us, and me Taichi, until we meet again okay?" Her smile lighting up the area as she held up a pink rose to her nose. "So requests your queen."

As the pink haired girl left, a faint snort of disbelief made itself known as twin messy haired human forms slowly faded into view in the center of the memorial. "So commands you queen, what the hell do you see in her?" The spirit form of Jun spat out as she glared after Mimi.

"More then you can ever understand, Jun." Tai's spirit bit back as he glared at her from the corner of his eyes. "And what was that stunt for back there? We were supposed to work together."

Jun smirking right back at him as he le tot a small chuckle. "So what if the power got to me, you won didn't you?"

"Yeah, and I died doing it!" Tai snapped back as he punched Jun on the shoulder, eyes actually flashing with anger as he did so. "If you hadn't been so boneheaded, we could have."

A punch right back into his face shut him up as Jun glared at him. "What do you know, if you hadn't been so stupid, I would have become the ruler of all."

"No!"

"Yes!"

A soft sigh filled the air as a black colored feline digimon spirit showed up. "Are they still at it?" BlackGatomon's comment aimed to her right where an orange colored digimon were sitting.

Agumon glancing back for a few seconded before focusing on the argument between Jun and Tai once more, simply shrugged. "Looks like it, but hey, at least they're on friendly terms again." confusing filling his face as he watched Tai and Jun break out into a fist fight, before rolling around on the ground while yelling at each other. "At least I think they are."

"Idiots." The last comment muttered out by Blackwargreymon's spirit as he stared down at the arguing human spirits and the two digimons spirits. "They're both idiots."

"SHUT UP!"

Mimi stopping her walk as she could have sworn she had just heard Tai and Jun yelling from behind her, but couldn't see anyone when she turned around to check. "Huh? must be the heat getting to me."

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AN: Well, it's an epilogue, somewhat, I hope it lives up what is to be expected by a epilouge. Anyway, this time the story really is over, finite, ended, done with, completed, totally finished.

And so I say to all.

Don't drink and drive.


End file.
